400-Member JournoList Email Group Accused of Coordinated Silence on Rev. Wright Controversy

A recent social media post by Mike Benz has reignited discussions surrounding alleged journalistic coordination, specifically citing the "JournoList scandal" and its connection to the handling of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy during Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Benz stated, > "We learned during the JournoList scandal that yes actually there are hundreds of journalists all in a group chat agreeing not to report on scandals that make their own side look bad, like the Reverend Wright Obama scandal." This claim points to a perceived effort among journalists to manage negative narratives.

JournoList was a private Google Groups forum established in February 2007 by Ezra Klein, comprising approximately 400 left-leaning journalists, academics, and policy experts. Intended as an off-the-record space for discussing politics and news media, the forum was shut down in June 2010 after wider public exposure of its contents. Critics, including Tucker Carlson, alleged that the group facilitated the coordination of talking points on behalf of Democratic politicians, particularly Barack Obama. One notable exchange involved Spencer Ackerman's suggestion to "call them racists" in response to the Jeremiah Wright controversy.

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, gained national attention in March 2008 due to controversial sermons. Wright, who had been Barack Obama's spiritual mentor for decades, made inflammatory statements such as "God damn America" and suggested the U.S. government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks and the creation of the HIV virus. These remarks became a significant political liability for Obama's presidential campaign, prompting him to publicly denounce the statements and eventually resign his church membership.

The tweet by Mike Benz directly links the internal discussions within JournoList to the media's approach to the Rev. Wright scandal, suggesting a deliberate agreement to downplay or redirect attention from the issue. While some JournoList members defended the forum as a private space for candid discussion, others viewed the revealed emails as evidence of a problematic lack of journalistic objectivity and potential collusion. The controversies surrounding both JournoList and Reverend Wright fueled broader debates about media bias and the ethical boundaries of off-the-record communications among journalists.