It now appears Republican Rep. Jim Jordan won’t be the next House Speaker, but it’s still hilarious to see the political press corps write beat sweeteners–puff pieces that make their subjects look good, in implicit exchange for access later:

“Exclusive: Jim Jordan is an unyielding combatant, whether grappling on the mat or in the halls of Congress. A wrestling champion, he coached wrestling at Ohio State during a sex abuse scandal before entering politics.”

Because that’s how one writes a beat sweetener when the guy you’re trying to sweeten is best known for being a complete asshole who also ignored and lied about a serial sexual abuser.

It’s incredibly corrupt, and, more importantly, is providing readers with bad information. We shouldn’t have to ‘meta-read’ articles like this, though, in this case, it’s so obvious what is happening. But in many other articles, it’s not. And that’s a problem for readers.