Koch Brothers Have Found Dead Horse, Will not Stop Beating it

Who needs a reporter to impersonate you, when you can make terrible PR moves all by yourself?

David and Charles Koch have reignited a smear campaign against reporter Jane Mayer over an unflattering profile she wrote of the brothers for the New Yorker… last August.

The duo’s lawyer has reportedly penned a fiery letter to the American Society of Magazine Editors, according to Gawker, after it nominated her piece for a National Magazine Award. It reads:

“Her article is ideologically slanted and a prime example of a disturbing trend in journalism, where agenda-driven advocacy masquerades as objective reporting.”

Well then.

While the ASME awards are undoubtedly headline grabbers, we have to wonder whether this stunt hasn’t garnered Mayer’s piece just a tad bit more attention than it would have otherwise. Anyone want to estimate how many more pageviews that article got today (courtesy of Gawker) compared to other New Yorker pieces published in August 2010? Compared to other ASME nominees? We’re guessing the difference is pronounced.

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