20 June, 2013

John F. Harris & Jim VandeHei Interview: Talking to Politico's Editors | New Republic

John F. Harris & Jim VandeHei Interview: Talking to Politico's Editors | New Republic: Isaac Chotiner: A lot of people have a negative impression of Washington, D.C. They think it’s corrupt and insular. What do you think, either as citizens or journalists, of that critique?

John Harris: It strikes me as fair. I do think a lot of Washington is driven by incentives that you could—as shorthand—say are cynical: pursuit of publicity, pursuit of position, pursuit of partisan advantage. And not the incentives of trying to make the world a better place. I do think that is true in broad strokes. I obviously don’t think that is true in individual cases. We cover Washington. We are not out to celebrate it or defend it.