Dave Hall wrote:
On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 13:32:36 GMT, "Jim," wrote:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...air/print.html
extract
Feb. 10, 2005 | 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."
Gannon's star turn quickly piqued the interest of many online
commentators, who wondered how an obvious Republican operative had
been
granted access to daily White House press briefings normally
reserved
for accredited journalists. Two weeks later, a swarming
investigation
inside the blogosphere into Gannon and Talon News had produced all
sorts
of damning revelations about how Talon is connected at the hip to a
right-wing activist organization called GOPUSA, how its "news" staff
consists largely of volunteer Republican activists with no
journalism
experience, how Gannon often simply rewrote GOP press releases when
filing his Talon dispatches. It also uncovered embarrassing
information
about Gannon's past as well as his fake identity. When Gannon
himself
this week confirmed to the Washington Post that his name was a
pseudonym, it only added to the sense of a bizarre hoax waiting to
be
exposed.
How is this any different from the left wing political operatives on
the other side of the fence?
What, it's only wrong when republicans do it?
Dave
I think it would be refreshing to throw the whole bunch of Whitehouse
Journalist out and give a new batch of Highschool journalist a fresh
start at the Whitehouse. I'm sure they could figure out how to ask
pertinent questions and the news media could get some fresh material.
TnT