Posted on 02/02/2005 6:43:13 AM PST by Pikamax
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
It took two "investigative journalists" to figure out who sits next to them.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighting Troops
I thought they moved helen thomas to the back row?
I once heard helen thomas say she thought Vince Foster was killed and it happend "right there in the white house" (actual quote)
The other 'journalists' chuckled at something so humorous.
Discussed by Rush today.
Note to Ping List: I am now putting "DHPL" as a keyword in the threads that I ping, making it easier for you to search for them.
Well that settles it! BWA!!
Yes, but he is very qualified to have a Sunday morning political show on ABC, right Georgy?
Actually the reporter in question, Jeff Gannon is FR's unofficial White House Correspondent. Jeff Gannon is a Freeper and we should all support him by reading TalonNews.com.
Hmmm. Terry Moran, David Gregory, and John Roberts. Neither one of these three stooges have any journalistic skills.
I bet he works in his pyjamas too.
David Brock is a Conservative... ;)
I think we should go back to calling them "reporters" because that's their job... to report, not decide. "Journalism" is a made-up "profession" that is more like the oldest, but less professional.
I wish they would deny some credentials to some of these msmnos that can't behave with decorum and respect.
I nominate Kristinn
Ted Turner is pissed. That's his job!
Yeah how dare they let someone who is not a screwball, America hating Leftist puke pose as a pressitute? As though it takes some special talent to lie for the RATmedia.
Looks like the Dinosaur Media has finally decided on a strategy to compete with the New Media - drum them out of the corps. And once they're not considered to be "journalists" any more, the 1st Amendment won't apply to them; that's only for the "enlightened" who won't "abuse" the right by engaging in "hate speech" and "pro-Bush propaganda." That's where this is going.
Calling Jeff Gannon to the thread. Since he is a freeper and being discussed, we might as well get his take rather than the MSM.
There has been no real journalist for many years now.
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