Writing the previous post, I got to thinking about how many "media reading rules" there are in Washington -- rules that are supposed to blunt criticism of an institution, or increase comprehension of their product, but which most people don't know. Rules like "Don't take anything written by Marty Peretz, or someone who sounds like Marty Peretz, seriously, as the magazine tacitly disowns it," or "The Wall Street Journal editorial page is full of shit." Suggestions like "read oddly obtuse David Ignatius columns particularly closely because they generally are revealing the thinking of highly-ranked Bush administration sources," and "while a lot of people think Thomas Friedman is a little silly, he is unquestionably the most closely read foreign policy journalist among politicians, and so his trajectory is actually quite important."
There are dozens more, though I'd need to sit down and think about it for awhile. It would be cool to put together a collection of such tidbits, though. "A Reader's Guide to the Beltway Press," or something. For now, add to my list in comments.
