And the Hey everybody it's Andrew Clavin with this week's interview with Michael Barone.

The other day I was reading a piece in the Economist called

When the New York Times lost its way it was by a former Times

editorial page editor named James Bennett and Bennett writes of Times

reporters the reporter's creed used to have its foundation in liberalism, the exercise of a

reporter's curiosity and empathy given scope by the constitutional protections of

free speech would equip readers with the best information to form their own judgments.

Illiberal journalists have a different philosophy they have seen the principle of

free speech used to protect right-wing outfits and are uneasy with it.

They had their suspicions of their fellow citizens

judgment confirmed by Trump's election and do not believe readers can be trusted

with potentially dangerous ideas or facts. They are not out to achieve

social justice as the knock-on effect of pursuing truth. They want to pursue social justice head-on. The term objectivity to them is code for ignoring the poor and weak and cozying up to power.

Because of this, because this illiberal journalism has infected not just the New York Times,

but I think almost our entire mainstream media,

it's become more and more difficult to find straightforward information.

I mean, I depend on it and I know how difficult it is.

It's about five times harder than it was when I started doing this only about 10 years ago.

The idea that there are such things as facts that it's good to know the facts before you form an opinion and that your opinion if your opinion is in conflict with the facts. It's your opinion that should change.

Those are ideas that have gone out of date

with a generation so certain that it knows the hard contours

of moral truth that facts can't possibly

...