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shawa
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Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:03 pm Post subject: Reporter under Scrutiny?? - Why?? |
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The Boston Globe and other elitist media see this guy as an
'enemy in their midst'. Why?
Because in White House news conferences he dares to ask questions
that WE (as in Conservatives) want asked!! -- Re John Kerry and
Libs divorced from reality.
Instead of the 'gotcha' baiting questions from the regular press rabble.
I LOVE THIS GUY!!
Boston Globe
note: URL converted to hypertext
White House-friendly reporter under scrutiny
By Charlie Savage and Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
February 2, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has provided White House media credentials to a man who has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman in the midst of contentious news conferences, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles on his website.
Jeff Gannon calls himself the White House correspondent for TalonNews.com, a website that says it is "committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news coverage to our readers." It is operated by a Texas-based Republican Party delegate and political activist who also runs GOPUSA.com, a website that touts itself as "bringing the conservative message to America."
Called on last week by President Bush at a press conference, Gannon attacked Democratic Senate leaders and called them "divorced from reality." During the presidential campaign, when called on by Press Secretary Scott McClellan, Gannon linked Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, to Jane Fonda and questioned why anyone would dispute Bush's National Guard service.
Now, the question of how Gannon gets into White House press conferences is coming under intense scrutiny from critics who contend that Gannon is not a journalist but rather a White House tool to soften media coverage of Bush. The issue was raised by a media watchdog group and picked up by Internet bloggers, who linked Gannon's presence in White House briefings to recent controversies over whether the administration manipulates the flow of information to the public.
These include the disclosure that the Education Department secretly paid columnist Armstrong Williams to promote its education policy and the administration's practice of sending out video press releases about its policies that purport to be "news stories" by fake journalists.
McClellan said Gannon has not been issued -- nor requested -- a regular "hard pass" to the White House, and instead has come in for the past two years on daily passes. Daily passes, he said, may be issued to anyone who writes for an organization that publishes regularly and who is cleared to enter the building.
He said other reporters and political commentators from lesser-known newsletters and from across the political spectrum also attend briefings, though he could not recall any Internet bloggers. McClellan said it is not the White House's role to decide who is and who is not a real journalist and dismissed any notion of conspiracy.
Nonetheless, transcripts of White House briefings indicate that McClellan often calls on Gannon and that the press secretary -- and the president -- have found relief in a question from Gannon after critical lines of questioning from mainstream news organizations.
When Bush called on Gannon near the end of his nationally televised Jan. 26 news conference, he had just been questioned about Williams and the Education Department funds, an embarrassment to the administration. Gannon's question was different.
"Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the US economy," Gannon said. "[Minority Leader] Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"
As it turned out, Reid had never talked about soup lines. That was a phrase attributed to him in satire by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show.
Last year, during the presidential campaign, Gannon's comments could be even more pointed. In a Feb. 10, 2004, briefing with McClellan, for example, Gannon rose to deliver the following:
"Since there have been so many questions about what the president was doing over 30 years ago, what is it that he did after his honorable discharge from the National Guard? Did he make speeches alongside Jane Fonda, denouncing America's racist war in Vietnam? Did he testify before Congress that American troops committed war crimes in Vietnam? And did he throw somebody else's medals at the White House to protest a war America was still fighting?"
David Brock, the former investigative journalist who made his name revealing aspects of former President Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs, said he was watching last week's press conference on television and the "soup lines" question sparked his interest because it "struck me as so extremely biased." Brock asked his media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, to look into Talon News.
It quickly discovered two things, he said. First, both Talon and the political organization GOP USA were run by a Texas Republican activist and party delegate named Bobby Eberle. Second, many of the reports Gannon filed for Talon News "appeared to be lifted verbatim from various White House and Republican political committee documents."
Eberle did not return phone calls yesterday, and Gannon declined to comment. He did reply to Brock's group on his personal blog: "In many cases I have liberally used the verbiage provided on key aspects of the issue because it is the precise expression of where the White House stands -- free of any 'spin.' It's the ultimate in journalistic honesty -- unvarnished and unfiltered. If only others would be as forthcoming."
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Me#1You#10
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Joined: 06 May 2004
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| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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| The latest "outrage-d u-jour" from the incessant whiner David Brock at MediaMatters...but I thank him for bringing TalonNews.com to my attention. Into the bookmarks it goes. |
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USAFE5
PO2
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 362
Location: Reno Nevada
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:23 am Post subject: |
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Excellent site. Also good is the www.gopusa.com site. You can sign up for a daily news flash to your email. Lots of great discussions on local and national events.
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"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I’m here to help." Ronald Reagan |
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Me#1You#10
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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El Rushbo weighs in...
| Rush Limbaugh wrote: | Boston Globe Uncovers Friendly White House Reporter
February 2, 2005
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
One more media note here. Remember Jeff Gannon of Talon News, the guy who asked the question in the president's last press conference that I thought was very similar and familiar to a point that I had made on this program? Well, the Boston Globe has sent two investigative reporters to find out who this guy is, and they've got a headline today: "White House-Friendly Reporter Under Scrutiny -- The Bush administration has provided the White House media credentials to a man who has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions of the president and his spokesmen in the midst of contentious news conferences and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles on his website, TalonNews.com." Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is classic investigative reporting. They actually have found him. It took two reporters from the Boston Globe to find a friendly, one friendly White House reporter, and it's a major scandal now! They found a friendly White House reporter! Two investigative journalists from the Boston Globe did it.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Let me start at the top of this story, because this, this, folks, is just too good. First let's start with a sound bite. Let's go back to January 26th at the White House. President Bush held a presser, and here is a reporter, Jeff Gannon for Talon News, asking the president a question.
GANNON: Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid was talking about soup lines and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse yet on the same breath they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. You've said you're going to reach out to these people. How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves are reality?
RUSH: We had a lot of fun with this because this is a great question. This is the kind of question the president never gets asked. We don't hear it much, and everything in it is true. Everything in this question is true and the president was asked his thoughts on this. Well, it turns out, ladies and gentlemen, that members of the White House press corps were offended and felt that they had an intruder in their midst, and so the Boston Globe commissioned two investigative reports to see if they can ferret out whether or not there was indeed a White House-friendly reporter among them because I guess such a reality would be unacceptable, to have a White House-friendly reporter among the White House press corps. And so the results of this investigation have been published today in the Boston Globe by Charlie Savage and Alan Wirzbicki, Globe staff and Globe correspondent respectively. "Washington -- The Bush administration has provided White House media credentials to a man who has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman in the midst of contentious news conferences, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles on his website. Jeff Gannon calls himself the White House correspondent for TalonNews.com , a website that says it is 'committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news coverage to our readers.'
"It is operated by a Texas-based Republican Party delegate and political activist who also runs GOPUSA.com, a website that touts itself as 'bringing the conservative message to America.'" (Gasping.) That alone could be a crime, ladies and gentlemen. "Called on last week by President Bush at a press conference, Gannon attacked Democratic Senate leaders and called them 'divorced from reality.' During the presidential campaign, when called on by...Scott McClellan, Gannon linked Senator John F. Kerry...to Jane Fonda and questioned why anyone would dispute Bush's National Guard service. Now, the question of how Gannon gets into White House press conferences is coming under intense scrutiny from critics who contend that Gannon is not a journalist but rather a White House tool to soften media coverage of Bush. The issue was raised by a media watchdog group and picked up by Internet bloggers, who linked Gannon's presence in White House briefings to recent controversies over whether the administration manipulates the flow of information to the public...."
"McClellan said Gannon has not been issued -- nor requested -- a regular 'hard pass' to the White House, and instead has come in for the past two years on daily passes. Daily passes, he said, may be issued to anyone who writes for an organization that publishes regularly and who is cleared to enter the building." Weeeeell, and so the Boston Globe was not going to tolerate a White House friendly reporter in their midst, and so it took two investigative reporters -- two of them, two of them! -- to find a man who sits right next to them in all of these White House press conferences and briefings, two investigative reporters for the Boston Globe, in a classic case of investigative reporting. This is the kind of work we expect from the mainstream media, folks, to ferret out infiltrators among their own population, someone friendly to the White House, someone who would dare show up to the White House and "attack Senate Democrat leaders." Listen to this sound bite again and tell me if there is an "attack" on Senate Democrat leaders.
GANNON: Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. You've said you're going to reach out to these people. How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?
RUSH: Where, my friends, is the "attack"? What I heard there was an accurate recitation of what the Senate Democrat leaders had said and what Hillary Clinton had said. In fact, this is pretty much what I said the day before this press conference. What was amazing about it, you had Harry Reid talking about nobody could get jobs; the jobs that people did have didn't pay anything. The economy was so woefully bad that people were in terrible distress out there, and then Hillary Clinton came along, and she was saying that the economy is on the verge of collapse as well. But both of them turned around and said there's no crisis in Social Security whatsoever, how do the two go together? And so this reporter, Jeff Gannon, just asked the president for his response, and the White House press corps says, "Something is not right here," because, you see, ladies and gentlemen, an accurate recitation of statements made by Democrat leaders is considered an "attack," just as is calling them "liberals," which Mr. Gannon did not do. But if you dare call them liberals they also consider that to be an "attack," and the unfair usage of "labels," which doesn't serve any purpose. They also say that it is a distraction. Of course, the Democrats themselves today are saying that Bush's Social Security plan is "a distraction." A distraction from what, Dusty Harry? A distraction from what? What is the distraction?
So it still is apparently the case, ladies and gentlemen, you cannot accurately recite the words and the points made by Senate Democrat leaders or potential presidential candidates without being accused of being "White House-friendly" and engaging in "attacks," and as such, Mr. Gannon has found himself on the receiving end of an exhaustive investigation by the Boston Globe, two reporters to ferret out the truth of a man who sits right text to them in these press conferences. Now, when this story hit, our memories here were collectively jogged. Something about the Boston Globe and the Clinton administration. We couldn't quite put our finger on it but we knew it involved their famous columnist Thomas Oliphant who was the husband of CBS reporter Susan Spencer, and so we went back to the archives, ladies and gentlemen, and here is what we found. Our old buddies at Newsmax not long ago in writing about the Armstrong Williams so-called propaganda story published this: "In a 1994 case that received far less attention, two Republican congressmen complained that senior Clinton administration official Susan Brophy had promised that the Boston Globe's Thomas Oliphant would write favorable columns about them if they, the Republicans, voted for President Clinton's crime bill. Peter Torkildsen said to the Boston Herald, 'She said if I voted yes, that she'd ask Oliphant to write something favorable about me.'
"Torkildsen's Republican colleague Peter Blute said that Susan Brophy had made a similar pitch to him. She said the White House could be helpful with the regional press in Boston; she mentioned the Globe; and she mentioned Oliphant. Mr. Oliphant was righteously indignant, angrily denied that he had agreed to help the White House by trading his column for House votes. 'Nothing I write or have ever written is on anybody else's authority but my own, and anybody who suggests otherwise is a *******,' he told the Boston Herald. But after Blute supported the Clinton legislation, the Boston Globe reporter, columnist, Mr. Oliphant, praised him in print. Torkelson's vote against the bill was denounced in a separate Oliphant column as a smarmy move, and so what Susan Brophy promised the two Republicans, happened. If they voted for the crime bill, Oliphant would praise them, otherwise he would smarm them." Now, he praised Blute but he smarmed Torkildsen. So here you had the Clinton White House trading favors with the Boston Globe for votes in the House of Representatives, and that same newspaper now has concluded its exhaustive investigation into Jeff Gannon who has committed a journalistic crime. He was friendly to the White House in the press corps, and that, my friends, was so unusual that there was somebody in the White House press corps friendly to the president, it warranted a full-fledged, two-reporter investigation paid for by the Boston Globe. Ha-ha. These people will not be denied.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Kevin, Detroit, you're next on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Dr. Professor Limbaugh.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: Thank you for taking my call. I consider it a compliment to myself that you would take it because I remember you explained that it's gotta be something worth talking about, so thank you very much.
RUSH: Well, partially, but the primary purpose of a caller here is to make the host look good. Don't forget that, and that doesn't mean you sit there and compliment me. Anybody can do that.
CALLER: I certainly don't think you have a problem looking good. Thank you very much for all you do for us.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: Like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth , I'm sure that Talon News group is just jumping up and down with glee that the Democrats are whining about this guy that they supposedly embedded because I would have never heard about these two groups if they hadn't shined the light on them.
RUSH: Well, we might have heard about the Swift Boat Vets for Truth. They had truth. They had book out there. But it's true the Boston Globe has now raised the profile of the TalonNews.com and Jeff Gannon. There's no question they've done that by acting scared and angry of this one guy. This one reporter, sneaks in, he's White House friendly, and the Boston Globe stops everything and conducts an investigation! (Laughing.) Folks, it just doesn't say it all. They've got somebody asking questions of the president that criticizes his Democratic critics and the White House press corps is not tolerant. They've got so investigate. Now they've zeroed in. They've got the crosshairs on the Talon News and was Jeff Gannon -- and you're right. It's only going to elevate them and make them more well known. Eric in San Francisco , nice to have you on the program, sir.
CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush. Pleasure to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: Don't you feel a little culpability, though, for drawing a little extra spotlight on Mr. Gannon there for stating that possibly he listens to your program, to state the question the way he did?
RUSH: I thought that when I first saw the headline of the story and then I saw who it was about. But I realized that they would have conducted this investigation without me anyway. Just his presence and just his question is enough to cause them to stop the presses and do an investigation. I'm not denying that my calling attention to this the next day. It might have been that day. It was the day of the presser, yeah. My calling attention to this also helped focus attention on the kinds of things not asked at the White House press conferences, and, of course, the mainstream press is very sensitive these days. They know they're under assault. They know they're under attack. They had this. I keep going back to this, but they go back. They had their monopoly. This did not used to happen to them. Now they're even being, in their minds, they're being infiltrated. (Laughing.) It's not just that there's a White House friendly in there; they got in there under the radar. (Laughing.) So they're being infiltrated, you know, and it's something that would have happened with or without me, without me. I don't feel "culpable." Culpable is not even the word. You should be asking me, "Do I want to take a little credit here for the attention at Talon News Service," but I'm not going to do that, even. I mean he went in there; he got the press pass. He got the White House press pass. He went in there. He stood up. He asked the question, and they are investigating him now. I mean, he's a big boy, can take all this, and I'm sure is loving every moment of it. Pete in Lee, New Hampshire. You're next on the program. Hello.
CALLER: Hello. Marine Corps pilot dittos. Thank you for taking my call.
RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much.
CALLER: I just wanted to tie this together and see as you recall, this is the same newspaper whose credibility was shot many, many months back when they reached the conclusion then went out and sought facts to suit that. In an early edition of one of their papers they printed a pornographic picture that somebody had sent them claiming that it was -- I believe it was Iraqi female prisoners being raped by our soldiers, and they actually printed this before someone pointed out to them that in fact it was a clip from some porn videotape. And, by the way --
RUSH: I have that story right here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers. It was a story that ran in the Boston Herald . And you could ask, and it would be a legitimate question and maybe Jeff Gannon could next ask the question this question in a press conference, and that is: "Does the Boston Globe have a predisposition against George Bush, and should there be an investigation?" The Boston Globe; this is Thursday, May 13th of last year. "The Boston Globe was reeling yesterday after graphic photos of alleged sexual abuse of Iraqi women by U.S. soldiers turned out to be staged shots from a hard-core porn website. This photo should not have appeared in the Globe said the editor, Martin Baron, in a statement. First, images portrayed in the photo were overly graphic. Second, as the story clearly pointed out, those images were never authenticated as photos of prisoner abuse. There was a lapse in judgment and procedures, and we apologize for it." This seems to be happening all over the place in the mainstream media. Forged documents are not checked; now forged porno pictures are not checked. What is the editing process of the Boston Globe? One guy just can't get this done. One person just can't get this done. These pictures have to be vetted. Of course there's a predisposition against Bush at the Boston Globe.
And let's not forget, one of their reporters, what was his name, Kranish? Wrote the John Kerry bio. Remember that? That they had to go back and change a couple times, and Kerry started changing his story. The Boston Globe has a long and rich tradition of being, shall we say, hand in hand or even in a warm embrace with the forces aligned against President Bush -- and I'm wondering, folks. Is there maybe too much concentration of power in print media? The New York Times owns the Boston Globe, after all. How do we know that these pictures didn't originate with editors at the New York Times and the Boston Globe was just told to run them, because the New York Times didn't want to deal with porn, but they could slough it off on the Boston affiliate, the Globe? Ho do we know this didn't happen? We don't know that it did. But there just may be too big a concentration of power in the print media. Washington Post owns Newsweek. Oh, absolutely right! The New York Times owns the Boston Globe. The New York Times owns classical music stations in New York. How do we know there aren't subliminal messages in the music, Beethoven's Fifth? We don't know, ladies and gentlemen.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Articles...
(Boston Globe: White House-friendly reporter under scrutiny)
(NewsMax: Bloggers on Dean Payroll Part of Long Dem History)
(Boston Herald: Globe caught with pants down: Paper duped into running porn photos)
Rush Limbaugh |
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Ohio Voter
PO2
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 360
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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Talon news [gopusa.com], Swift Vets Forum, Rush Limbaugh and Fox news kept me sane during the year prior to the election. Their real time political "news" was more fair and balanced then NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, or PBS. Talon is a good news source. I receive their daily email.
| USAFE5 wrote: |
Excellent site. Also good is the www.gopusa.com site. You can sign up for a daily news flash to your email. Lots of great discussions on local and national events. |
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carpro
Admin
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 1176
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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"WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has provided White House media credentials to a man who has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman in the midst of contentious news conferences, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles on his website. "
What's the big deal about "softball questions"?
It is normal and natural for a person holding a press conference, politicians in particular, to go to a "friendly" reporter when they need an easy question.
Did Kerry have any interviews at all during the campaign that did anything but lob "softball" questions at him?
And he avoided ALL press conferences where he might get a hostile question.
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"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service." |
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coldwarvet
Admiral
Joined: 03 Jun 2004
Posts: 1125
Location: Minnetonka, MN
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| Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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Group Think is the way of MSM and any journalists who steps away from Group Think will be attacked by the members of Group Think until they sub come to reporting according to Group Think. And it is obvious that not going on the attack with President Bush is not acceptable to Group Think.
CWV
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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Well, looks like there's some crow to be digested inre "Jeff Gannon" (allegedly a pseudonym). He's, apparently, resigned from Talon News following allegations of his involvement with several websites featuring gay porn (not that there's anything wrong with that?).
"Conservative Voice" has the story and it's being giving top billing on Daily Kos.
I wonder if Talon News will issue a statement. I would imagine Drudge will pick it up shortly. |
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coldwarvet
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Location: Minnetonka, MN
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| Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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How credible is the Daily Kos? In any event if the charges against Gannon are true it does not change the Group Think mentality of the MSM.
CWV
_________________
Defender of the honor of those in harms way keeping us out of harms way.
"Peace is our Profession"
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
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| Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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| coldwarvet wrote: | | How credible is the Daily Kos? |
While I don't frequent the site myself, I think it's widely regarded in the blogworld as numero uno on the leftside...I suppose that implies a certain degree of "credibility" when it comes to reporting "hard news"...and it looks like there's lotsa meat on this bone they're chewing. Scott McClellan may have some explaining to do inre WH press "credentials". |
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coldwarvet
Admiral
Joined: 03 Jun 2004
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Location: Minnetonka, MN
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| Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Me#1You#10 wrote: | | coldwarvet wrote: | | How credible is the Daily Kos? |
While I don't frequent the site myself, I think it's widely regarded in the blogworld as numero uno on the leftside...I suppose that implies a certain degree of "credibility" when it comes to reporting "hard news"...and it looks like there's lotsa meat on this bone they're chewing. Scott McClellan may have some explaining to do inre WH press "credentials". |
Well good, I hope that they are right about Dayton being out. What another embarrassment to the Democratic Party. Minnesota is like Massachusetts midwest with names like Humphrey, Mondale, Wellstone and Dayton.
CWV
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Me#1You#10
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Joined: 06 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:40 am Post subject: |
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Interestingly enough, Howard Kurtz offers comments in support of Jeff Gannon in this
video interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN courtesy of David Brock's Media Matters.
And here's a Kurtz WaPo column on 2/10....
| Quote: | Online Reporter Quits After Liberals' Expose
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 10, 2005; Page C01
The conservative reporter who asked President Bush a loaded question at a news conference last month resigned yesterday after liberal bloggers uncovered his real name and raised questions about his background.
Jeff Gannon, who had been writing for the Web sites Talon News and GOPUSA, is actually James Dale Guckert, 47, and has been linked to online domain addresses with sexually provocative names. He has been under scrutiny since asking Bush how he could work with Senate Democratic leaders "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality." The information about Gannon was posted on the liberal sites Daily Kos, Atrios and World o' Crap.
Under the headline "A Voice of the New Media: The Voice Goes Silent," Gannon wrote on his personal Web page that because of the attention "I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News" and that he is quitting "in consideration of the welfare of me and my family." Gannon added in a brief interview that "my family has been victimized" and that he wanted to "put some separation between Talon News and the White House."
Gannon's resignation highlights the no-holds-barred atmosphere of the Web, which both enabled him to function as a reporter -- his stories appeared on a site founded by Texas Republican activist Bobby Eberle -- and produced a swarm of critics determined to expose him.
Washington Post - cont'd |
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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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Hmmm. I'm beginning to wonder if this was all a set up by the Libs.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/shared/news/world/stories/0210_GANNON10.html
| Quote: | White House asked to explain role of Web site reporter at briefings
By SCOTT SHEPARD
Cox News Service
Thursday, February 10, 2005
WASHINGTON — In a letter to President Bush on Wednesday, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., called for an explanation of how a Talon News reporter who used the pseudonym "Jeff Gannon" was admitted to White House briefings.
Gannon resigned late Tuesday amid a flurry of accusations about his professional credentials and links to the Republican Party.
"It appears that 'Mr. Gannon's' presence in the White House press corps was merely as a tool of propaganda for your administration," wrote Slaughter, a senior member of the House Rules Committee who has been active in media fairness and ownership issues.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said he had not seen the letter from Slaughter, but dismissed her suggestion that Gannon was allowed into White House press briefings to help promote Bush's political agenda.
"She must not be following the briefings too closely because she'd see that here are a number of people in that room that are advocates," McClellan said. "There are a number of people who express their views in that briefing room."
But liberal bloggers allege that Gannon is, in fact, James "J.D." Guckert, and that Web sites such as hotmilitarystud.com, militaryescorts.com, and militaryescorts4m.com, are registered to the same owner as Gannon's Web site, jeffgannon.com.
All the sites are down and not accessible.
Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz told CNN on Wednesday that the liberal bloggers may have gone "too far" in investigating Gannon's personal life in the weeks since he asked a question at a presidential press conference that included criticism of Senate Democrats and, thereby, attracted national attention.
But John Aravosis, who operates the AMERICAblog Web site, where the allegations about Gannon are summarized, said in response to Kurtz that his probe of Gannon was motivated by "the family values hypocrisy."
He also condemned him regarding the outing of Valerie Plame. According to the Washington Post, Gannon's name was among those of journalists targeted for questioning by the federal prosecutors investigating the White House leak of an internal CIA memo that named former U.S. ambassador and Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson's wife as a covert CIA agent.
In articles and in questions posed to McClellan at the briefings, Gannon was frequently unflattering in his portrayal of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004.
For example, in detailing Kerry's ties to organization's advocating expanded legal rights for gays, Gannon wrote:
"Inasmuch as Bill Clinton is considered by some members of the African-American community to be 'the first black president' because of their perception of his positions with regard to minority issues, Democratic Sen. John Kerry might someday be known as 'the first gay president' were he to win the White House in November."
Aravosis also questioned why the White House, with the country at war, would allow almost daily access to press briefings to someone using a pseudonym. "Isn't that a national security threat?" he said.
Responding to questions about Gannon attending White House press briefings, McClellan said, "I don't think it's the role of the press secretary to get into being a media critic or to get into the role of picking or choosing who gets press credentials."
McClellan noted that Gannon did not have the so-called "hard pass" designating regular White House beat reporters but rather a daily pass that required Secret Service clearance with each entry to the White House compound.
"The daily press pass, my understanding from the staff is, they check to make sure that they are a news organization that publishes regularly and they have to go through a clearance process like anyone else who comes to the White House," he said.
But Slaughter, in her letter to Bush, said the White House should address the issue of Gannon's involvement because of "the mounting evidence that your administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of administration policies."
The most notable incident of such payments involved conservative radio/TV host Armstrong Williams who received money from the Bush administration to promote the "No Child Left Behind" education reforms.
"I was already concerned about what appears to be an organized campaign to mask partisan propaganda as legitimate news by your administration," Slaughter's letter to Bush added. "That we have now learned this same type of deception is occurring inside the White house briefing room itself is even more disturbing."
Gannon, in some instances, reproduced large portions of White House press releases in stories without changing anything or attributing the White House. And the stories were posted on Talon News as well as GOPUSA.com, a Web site that is operated by a Texas-based Republican Party activist, Robert Eberle.
Gannon has previously acknowledged on his personal blog, but not the news site, lifting verbatim from White House press releases, stating: "In many cases, I have liberally used the verbiage provided on key aspects of the issue because it is the precise expression of where the White House stands - free of any 'spin'."
Talon News did not respond to e-mails requesting comment. Eberle, its editor-in-chief, issued a statement saying: "I understand and support Jeff's decision, and have accepted the resignation. We are currently evaluating candidates to fill this critical assignment, and anticipate minimal interruption of Talon's coverage of our nation's capitol and the White House in the meantime."
Some of the stories Gannon wrote for Talon have been removed from the Web site.
Eberle could not be contacted Wednesday.
Gannon also could not be reached Wednesday. His Web site has shut down. But in an announcement posted there Tuesday night, Gannon said, "Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a report for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life. Thank you to all those who supported me."
Reporting under a pseudonym is, in most cases, "a flat out deception," and one that needs to be explained to the news consuming public, said Kelly McBride, the Ethics Group Leader at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in Florida.
And while "having an agenda" or even financial ties to a political organization should not be automatic disqualifications, McBride said, "the White House shouldn't be putting in 'ringers' to prevent the White House press corps from performing its watchdog duties."
"You have a changing media environment right now," said McClellan. "We have a number of different media outlets that used to not be around ... and if the question becomes where do you draw the line - that's not an easy issue to address in this day and age."
Meanwhile, Democratic activists began a petition drive at democrats.com, seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate any links between Gannon and the White House press operation.
(White House Correspondent Ken Herman contributed to this report.) |
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| shawa wrote: | Hmmm. I'm beginning to wonder if this was all a set up by the Libs.
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Shawa...I am entertaining notions along those lines myself...this is beginning to smell like a Class A setup. |
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coldwarvet
Admiral
Joined: 03 Jun 2004
Posts: 1125
Location: Minnetonka, MN
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| Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Me#1You#10 wrote: | | shawa wrote: | Hmmm. I'm beginning to wonder if this was all a set up by the Libs.
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Shawa...I am entertaining notions along those lines myself...this is beginning to smell like a Class A setup. |
DITTO
It would make for interesting research to go back to these types of stories that were reported prior to the new media. Like the John Kerry senate testimony, Water Gate... They ain't getting away with it any longer.
CWV
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