a “disturbing trend” indeed….

New York Post: David and Charles Koch, the conservative oil industrialists, are now feuding with the American Society of Magazine Editors.

The brothers are apparently still fuming over an article, “Covert Operations: The Billionaire Brothers Who Are Waging War Against Obama,” by Jane Mayer that ran in The New Yorker last August and is now up for a National Magazine Award in Reporting from ASME.

Koch Industries Senior Vice President Mark Holden said in a letter to ASME board members that it is “inappropriate” for Mayer’s piece to be considered for the award because her article is biased.

“Her article is ideologically slanted and a prime example of a disturbing trend in journalism, where agenda-driven advocacy masquerades as objective reporting,” Holden said in a letter sent to ASME CEO Sid Holt and several ASME board members. “Given these facts, it would be inappropriate for ASME to give Ms. Mayer’s article an award in reporting.”

Aside from family feuds and dirty laundry, Mayer’s article detailed how the brothers were backers of a wide network of conservative think tanks and groups that helped spawn the Tea Party revolution.

…David Remnick, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, rallied to his reporter’s defense. “Jane Mayer put together an accurate and honest piece of reporting. To watch them go around to try to undermine a superb piece of reportage is pathetic. . . I’m a little surprised to see a big-time operation behave like a bunch of Inspector Clouseaus”….

…The article was embroiled in controversy almost from the start. Apparently someone tried to leak disparaging material to The Daily Caller, a Web site run by conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, claiming there were plagiarism issues in Mayer’s reporting.

When Media Ink, which had also received the anonymous allegations, began investigat ing, it found the plagia rism claims to be bogus. The Daily Caller ultimately spiked the story because it didn’t pan out. No one ever learned who was behind the dirty-trick operation to smear Mayer.

Full article here

Thank you to Fred for the link