Posted on 02/09/2005 6:44:39 PM PST by dirtboy
On February 7th, US Representative Louise Slaughter, D-NY, issued a press release on Jeff Gannon, a reporter from the web news site Talon News who somehow, despite the best efforts of the Mainstream Media, managed to gain access to the inner sanctum of White House press conferences. Gannon has since resigned from Talon News.
In her press release, Representative Slaughter made the following statements:
Mr. President, I am sure we both agree the White House Press Corps is an honored institution in America that should be beyond the scope of partisan meddling, and that a free and independent media is the cornerstone of our success as a democracy. Likewise, I am sure we can both agree the American people have the right to expect that journalists who question their President everyday are experienced, independent, and perhaps most importantly, unbiased in their approach...
Mr. President, your Administration has driven the so-called "values" debate in this country. But the most important value for those of us in public service should always be honesty and integrity, particularly when considering the manner in which we conduct our affairs of state.
The impassioned words roll off the press release ... unbiased ... honesty ... integrity...
And then, in order to support her charges against Gannon, Representative Slaughter cited an open letter from the Niagara Falls Reporter, which levelelled, among other things, allegations published in the Philadelphia Daily News:
He is affiliated with an organization called Talon News, and is frequently called on by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan and President Bush. This individual has no background in journalism whatsoever, and his "syndicated column" appears solely on his personal Web site, www.jeffgannon.com. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, "Jeff Gannon" isn't even his real name.
In his biography at the Talon News site, where he holds the title of "Washington Bureau Chief," he claims to be a graduate of the "Pennsylvania State University System" and the Leadership Institute Broadcast School of Journalism.
While the 23 schools in the Penn State system award diplomas, the system itself does not, and the Daily News investigation has thus far failed to turn up a "Jeff Gannon" who holds a degree in education from Penn State, as this person claims he does...
Sounds pretty damning.
However, this is the age of Google and web searches, the greatest equalizer since the Colt revolver. A search of Philly.com, the website for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer, along with archive searches performed by a source at the Daily News, turned up no such story. Additional Google research finally revealed that a blog affiliated with the Daily News by political reporter William Bunch had this story about Gannon, and is apparently the source referenced by this article:
"Jeff Gannon" and Karl Rove -- one degree of separation
Who is the conservative pseudo-journalist who calls himself "Jeff Gannon" and has a hard-to-get White House press pass, so he can toss softball questions at President Bush and rewrite press releases for a right-wing outlet called Talon News?
We wish we knew. We're on the trail, though. Here's a few more interesting things about Gannon, whose unlikely West Wing access is shedding new light on the unseemly White House propaganda machine.
One thing is that there's an excellent chance he's a native Pennsylvanian (wouldn't you just know it?). His "bio" on the Talon News site states "Jeff is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University System and holds a Bachelor of Science in Education." The vast majority of students who attend Penn State, either at State College or its many satellite campuses, tend to be in-state residents...
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Additional reading of Bunch's website shows that he maintains a countdown for Bush's impeachment. Where is Representative's Slaughter's concern about Bunch's failure to be unbiased?
But I digress. Now, let's compare the open letter from the Niagara Falls Reporter, which somehow failed to mention that the piece in question was from a reporter's blog and wasn't actually in the paper itself, to the actual content of Bunch's blog entry:
Niagara Falls Reporter: According to the Philadelphia Daily News, "Jeff Gannon" isn't even his real name.
William Bunch: Bunch makes no such claim.
Niagara Falls Reporter: the Daily News investigation has thus far failed to turn up a "Jeff Gannon" who holds a degree in education from Penn State, as this person claims he does.
William Bunch: One thing is that there's an excellent chance he's a native Pennsylvanian (wouldn't you just know it?). His "bio" on the Talon News site states "Jeff is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University System and holds a Bachelor of Science in Education." The vast majority of students who attend Penn State, either at State College or its many satellite campuses, tend to be in-state residents.
Notice there is no mention that any investigation was made by the Daily News (or Bunch) to see if Gannon had a degree from any of the Penn State campuses.
So we have two clear lies in an open letter cited by a United States Congresswoman as the rationale for a press release to attack the Bush Admininstration for dishonesty. Representative Slaughter also chastised Jeff Gannon's bias but failed to call either the writers of the open letter or William Bunch for their bias. Honesty and integrity apparently are nothing more to Representative Slaughter than words, devoid of their underlying values.
The fact checking involved isn't rocket science - a few minutes on Google were all that sufficed to run this information down. It is both highly ironic and deeply disturbing that Representative Slaughter would issue a press release about journalistic integrity and honesty that relies upon an open letter from a liberal newspaper that grossly misrepresents its key source. But she apparently is too busy booking face time on CNN to make sure her staff checked the facts behind her allegations.
Ok, I agree that every assertion made by the MSM should be met, whether small or big. But heretofore, those assertions have been directed to matters of public policy, i.e. Social Security Reform, Iraq, etc. Now, the MSM is occupying itself with personally attacking the New Media. Meeting them in small ways is not enough because in waiting for the homerun moment, the New Media suffers too many casualties.
This has denegrated into a street fight. The New Media has to fight it that way. The incest between the DNC and the MSM is too easy to pick apart and has been, but the underlying reasons for that incest has heretofore been left unearthed, i.e. money? sex? drugs? rockin roll? lions, tigers and bears oh my!!
"....Gannon, whose real name, according to investigators at DailyKos and other blogs, is James "J.D." Guckert...."
I just checked my Penn State alumni directory and found this entry:
Guckert, Donald James '78 BS, '78 BA, '86 M ENG
r: (address in Columbia Missouri and phone number follows)
I don't know if this is the guy, but it looks pretty coincidental. There are two other "Guckerts" listed, but one is a doctor who graduated in '61 and the other graduated in 2000. Neither has a "James" in his name.
By the way, there is no "Jeff Gannon" listed in my Penn State directory.
Nice bit of research. Let's see how that ties into what shakes out over the next few days.
Yes, he was ... his name was his screen name.
past tense?
Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
In Re Jeff Gannon, obviously, he is fully aware of how lib allies play. All he's doing here, IMHO, is making the Dem Allies work harder to harass his family and intimates.
Lessee, Kathleen Wiley. Some strangers leaving notes, dead cat, and threatening her. The list of those who are deemed "enemies" or "targets" of Democrats seem to encounter "coincidental" harm. .. "By Any Means Necessary". There's a pattern, an established pattern -- and oddly, the MSM never connects these patterns -- oh, no.. it's always "coincidence"
Slaughter?...this is the idiot who wants to censor Rush by bringing back the "Fairness Doctrine"
You are absolutely right, dirtboy! "This battle is fought one person at a time." Over time, the battle being fought one person at a time, culminates into something quite larger.
This is an excellent article explaining the inconsistencies in Rep. Slaughter's statement. I am bumping this for the morning crowd, and will check in later in the day. (I won't have consistent access to a computer until this evening, so keep me pinged on anything relevant, please!)
Thanks for the morning bump...
BTTT for SlaughterGate.
Did Mencken have a journalism degree? I'm willing to bet that few if any of the oldtime greats had journalism degrees.
I particularly like this:
...Google and web searches, the greatest equalizer since the Colt revolver
The left routinely accuses the right of the very same "sins" they are committing while they are committing them.
Good article!
LOL, good point!
Good catch.
Was? His account is still open.
He hasn't posted here since this broke, to the best of my knowledge.
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