Salon: Fake News, Fake Reporter

[kskiska]

Why was a partisan hack, using an alias and with no journalism background, given repeated access to daily White House press briefings?

By Eric Boehlert

When President Bush bypassed dozens of eager reporters from nationally and internationally recognized news outlets and selected Jeff Gannon to pose a question at his Jan. 26 news conference, Bush's recognition bestowed instant credibility on the apparently novice reporter, as well as the little-known conservative organization he worked for at the time, called Talon News. That attention only intensified when Gannon used his nationally televised press conference time to ask Bush a loaded, partisan question -- featuring a manufactured quote that mocked Democrats for being "divorced from reality."

(snip)

The Gannon revelations come on the heels of the discovery that Bush administration officials signed lucrative contracts with several conservative pundits who hyped White House initiatives and did not disclose the government's payments. The Talon News fiasco raises serious questions about who the White House is allowing into its daily press briefings. In other words, how can a reporter using a fake name and working for a fake news organization get press credentials from the White House, let alone curry enough favor with the notoriously disciplined Bush administration to get picked by the president in order to ask fake questions? The White House did not return Salon's calls seeking answers to those questions.

The situation "begs further investigation," says James Pinkerton, a media critic for Fox News who has worked for two Republican White Houses. "In the six years I worked for Reagan and Bush I, I remember the White House being strict about who got in. It's inconceivable to me that the White House, especially after 9/11, gives credentials to people without doing a background check."

Gannon reportedly did not have what's known as a "hard pass" for the White House press room, which allows journalists to enter daily without getting prior approval each time. Instead Gannon picked up a daily pass by contacting the White House press office each morning and asking for clearance. Mark Smith, vice president of the White House Correspondents Association, says it's up to White House officials to decide whom they want to wave in each day. "They don't consult us." If they had, Smith says, he would have been "very uncomfortable" granting Gannon the same access as professional journalists.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2005/02/10/gannon_affair/index.html

[Dudley_DUright]

1. Excellent article

Well worth a day pass to read.

[applegrove]

3. Will take your advice and read the article.

[ixion]

2. so, the 'reality-based' community is 'divorced from reality'

that's a shining example of repub lazy, circular anti-logic.

That people accept this as valid discourse is scary.
:crazy: