Representative Louise Slaughter's Dan Rather Moment

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.

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...

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:

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...

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.

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.

81 posted on 02/10/2005 10:35:58 AM PST by dirtboy (Funny how liberals are suddenly concerned about someone's sex life. Where were they in 1998?)

Is there anyone in her Rochester-based district who can kick her can out of Congress?

Elected in 1986, Congresswoman Slaughter has a Bachelor of Science degree (1951) in Microbiology and a Master of Science degree (1953) in Public Health from the University of Kentucky. Prior to entering Congress, she served in the New York State Assembly (1982-86) and the Monroe County (N.Y.) Legislature (1976-79); and as regional coordinator to then-Secretary of State Mario Cuomo (1976-78) and to then-Lt. Gov. Mario Cuomo (1979-82).

I'm hearing that Assembly Minority Leader Charles Nesbitt might take her on. She must be over 70 years old.

83 posted on 02/10/2005 12:34:09 PM PST by dirtboy (Funny how liberals are suddenly concerned about someone's sex life. Where were they in 1998?)

84 posted on 02/10/2005 2:55:59 PM PST by TOUGH STOUGH (If starvation & dehydration are painless, make them the method of preference for Capital Punishment.)

85 posted on 02/10/2005 5:36:54 PM PST by dirtboy (Funny how liberals are suddenly concerned about someone's sex life. Where were they in 1998?)

86 posted on 02/10/2005 8:27:23 PM PST by TOUGH STOUGH (If starvation & dehydration are painless, make them the method of preference for Capital Punishment.)

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