When I first heard Harvey Levin had put out a call from TMZ to turn the general public into a paparazzi-style press corps that would hound lawmakers caught in the wild during a partial government shutdown, I admit, I appreciated the chance of tangible accountability. A sighting of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chatting with Mickey Mouse, wand in hand, felt almost cathartic. But the idea that TMZ has suddenly discovered a civic conscience strains credulity.
I soon remembered that Levin is widely reported to allow his personal relationship with Donald Trump to dictate the way the president is covered on the site. One staffer told ThinkProgress during Trump’s first term that “Harvey just really likes powerful people, and he really likes having friends who are powerful, and who better than the President of the United States?” Then, in 2021, TMZ was acquired by Fox Corporation for $50 million.
