This summer Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller spent a lot of energy attempting to concoct a conspiracy theory surrounding the leaked e-mails from the Journolist listserv, which counted as members a variety of liberal journalists, think-tankers, and academics.

The emails lacked any newsworthy information, the list had first been reported over a year before, and the Caller misrepresented their content as something far more sinister. Nonetheless, the Caller insisted that they showed evidence of a liberal plot to manipulate the news (how, for instance, a suggestion to sign an open letter about media coverage is any sort of plot is still unclear).

Now along comes “Freedom Mail,” a listserv described by Politico's Ben Smith as “a secret (which strikes me as misguided, but harmless) list of center-right foreign policy writers and thinkers.” The list includes conservative journalists; it was reportedly organized by conservative journalist Jamie Kirchick and at one point reportedly included an American Spectator reporter. And as Smith notes, one of the list members is Caller editor Jamie Weinstein. Based on the very loose (and silly) standards the Caller applied to Journolist, this is more than enough evidence to ensnare the publication in some wider conspiracy about how media coverage is shaped by a cabal of right-wing journalists.

All we need now is more breathless coverage from outlets like the Daily Caller (and Fox News, who picked up the story along with others) about this cruel secret betrayal of the public trust. Because even though its just a private discussion list, we learned from the Caller that such things are almost always sinister in the worst way possible.