For those of you who still haven’t figured out what to make of that footage of Portland Antifa thugs clearly assaulting journalist Andy Ngo, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp recently put together a handy explainer to try to “cut through the fog”:

An attempt to cut through the fog of the Andy Ngo situation — and figure out what’s really going on in this conversation https://t.co/incpq0DzVA — Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) July 3, 2019

If Beauchamp were really interested in cutting through the fog, he wouldn’t lazily and inaccurately label Ngo a “conservative journalist,” for starters. But let’s hear him out:

But the aftermath of the attack — the narratives both sides have spun out of the basic facts established by the footage — is much trickier to assess. In the dominant narrative, pushed by the conservative and mainstream media alike, the attack on Ngo is evidence of a serious left-wing violence problem in America. Antifa, they argue, is a group of street thugs that has repeatedly attacked journalists and poses a genuine threat to public safety. The fact that the left tolerates antifa, or even celebrates them, is proof of a serious rot; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has called for an investigation into the events in Portland. … But according to a second narrative, offered primarily by less well-known left-liberal writers and social media accounts, the mainstream media is getting it all wrong. Ngo is not an innocent victim but a far-right sympathizer who has doxxed antifa members in the past, potentially facilitating their harassment, and provokes them so that he can broadcast the result. The outpouring of sympathy for Ngo, in this account, is actually evidence that the mainstream media is falling for Ngo’s grift — funneling money to his Patreon and legitimizing a right-wing smear campaign against a group that’s working to protect people from the threat of violence from groups like the Proud Boys. … The emergence of the two narratives based on the same facts, each with some grounding in reality, tells us a great deal about what’s going on in modern politics.

And Zack’s willingness to consider two narratives when only one of them is accurate tells us a great deal about why Vox has such a crappy reputation.

Really @zackbeauchamp⁩ ?⁩ ⁩ “The meaning of filmed events is entirely open to contestation.The mere fact that Ngo was assaulted doesn’t say what the meaning of that assault is,or what broader context is that’s necessary to understand it.” ⁦⁦⁦ https://t.co/Zt3GJ0w1Ok — Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) July 5, 2019

There’s no “broader context” needed to understand what happened. Ngo was violently assaulted by far-leftist thugs. And Beauchamp is willing to give those thugs the benefit of the doubt.

Vox’d! — Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 5, 2019

This is the guy who thought there was a Gaza bridge. — Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) July 5, 2019

So journalistic due diligence really isn’t his forte. But that’s still not an excuse for this garbage.

The Vox article strives to appear unbiased but really isn't. pic.twitter.com/uw4TpDat0V — Kristine Carlson (@kat_youngren) July 5, 2019

Gangs of masked fanatics pummeling a writer and sending him to the hospital is a "conversation," you see. https://t.co/EuiJJNQD7F — Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 5, 2019

One has only to look at the video. It's in HD. No fog. — Alex Jeffries ? (@the1codemonkey) July 5, 2019

What's going on is aggravated assault, regardless of whose feelings were hurt. — Louie (@JustLouie) July 3, 2019

You're condoning political violence. — [shrug emoji] (@jtLOL) July 5, 2019

A conversation does not include physical violence. That’s what happens when one side DOESN’T want a conversation. — John Taznar (@Taznari) July 5, 2019

Keep clinging to the 'Antifa hasn't killed anyone yet' narrative…that should hold forever — aarond23 (@aarond23) July 5, 2019

As a left-leaning type myself I often wonder… Why is it that when someone on my side gets assaulted, it's a cut & dry, simple case of assault? But when it's someone on the "other" side, it's deserved and we really need to "explore the context?" — EJ Spurrell ?? (@EJSpurrell) July 5, 2019

Whatever happened to honest journalism?

Zach Beauchamp is post-truth. https://t.co/Eh3W52VYlS — Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 5, 2019

The goalposts are now twisted into a pretzel. — Cheryl Ghiselin (@CherylGhiselin) July 5, 2019

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Related:

‘Did you even BOTHER to watch the video?!’ CNN does their best to discredit Andy Ngo during interview about his attack (watch)

‘What the heck is wrong with you?’ NYT’s take on Antifa’s assault of Andy Ngo is appalling on multiple levels