BEAT SWEETENERS (REVISITED).

BEAT SWEETENERS (REVISITED). I posted here on “beat sweeteners”, which are articles by journalists praising potential sources. This article has more on them, saying that “Even garden-variety government officials become political superheroes, each one harder-working and more down-to-earth than the last — and all of them enjoying the ear of the president.” The article traces the term as far back as 1988, and it may go farther back. Articles like this don’t always occur at the beginning of an administration. One academic offers advice every reader should bear in mind: “whenever I see a laudatory profile, there is always usually some hidden agenda going on.”