Depending on how and whether it follows through, and expands its coverage to Democrats, this could be fun

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the hokey pokey is what it’s all about!

TMZ Is Coming for Congress — and Washington Is Nervous

Stephen Green

TMZ is one of those celebrity gossip and listicle sites that I suspect readers around here probably scroll right past, [true in my case; never seen it, don’t even know what its letters stand for – ed] even though it's almost as old as the original blogosphere that eventually helped launch PJ Media. I suspect that's about to change. Bigly.

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Social media serves up the celebrity dish so much faster. In its heyday, readers could count on TMZ's army of photographers and tipsters to deliver the goods, but the business model topped out.

Well, what's there to do with that army of tipsters and photogs? 

TMZ told them to aim for new targets: America's usually well-insulated political class.

And let me tell you, so far the results are glorious. On second thought, don't let me tell you — I'll show you.

As best I can tell, TMZ's new business model exposed itself (heh) on Monday with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) enjoying a little DHS shutdown time with his bubble wand at Disney World.

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Is any of this Graham stuff newsworthy? Honestly, I'm torn on that one. But at 5.8 million X views (and counting), Graham and his bubble wand certainly piqued people's interest.

Most of TMZ's X feed is still the usual celeb stuff, but Laura Miers noticed that "Their politician posts get like 10,000x more engagement than their celebrity posts."

This next item, I'm not at all confused about whether it's newsworthy.

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I'd like to see a lot more like that. And if TMZ is serious about expanding its reach, they need to make their new effort truly nonpartisan. Not sure I'll let my hopes get up too high on that count, however. If TMZ wants to be just another hyperpartisan outlet, they'll likely get lost in the left-wing shuffle.

Still, Politico's Riley Rogerson posted that "The Hill is bracing for TMZ," and one congressional staffer told her they're already having conversations in D.C. about "how to engage and prepare for your boss’s TMZ moment." Another staffer told Rogerson they're actually “super stoked” by TMZ, but that other congresscritters could be in for a “rude awakening.”

Maybe you find a gossip site like TMZ getting into this kind of thing a bit distasteful, and my initial reaction was just that. 

But if the mainstream media — which long ago traded in its credibility for ideology and access — won't do the "legit" legwork needed to expose Congress's petty corruptions and hypocrisies, then maybe, in the immortal words of Melvin Udall, this is as good as it gets.