Courtesy of The Left Coaster comes these words from Chicago Trib’s Jim Warren: The three journalists discussed troubling pressures that affect the ability of news organizations to report the truth. A major one is that with consolidation of news organizations into conglomerates like Time Warner, news outlets have numerous conflicts between their business interests and their reporting. While NBC reports … Read More
A Guy With A Conscience
The guy who started the ball rolling on Eason Jordon is apparently having second thoughts: Mr. Abovitz, who started it all, said he hoped bloggers could develop loftier goals than destroying people’s careers. "If you’re going to do this open-source journalism, it should have a higher purpose," he said. "At times it did seem like an angry mob, and an … Read More
Jeff Gannon: Available for $1,200/weekend and $200/hour?
"Well, several years ago, before I came to Washington, I had registered various domain names for a private client. I was doing Web site development. Those sites were never hosted. There’s — nothing ever went up on them. And the client went on to do something else." – Jeff Gannon to Wolf Blitzer, CNN, 2/10/05 AmericaBlog calls bullshit. The details … Read More
F-Word Used To Describe The Bush Administration
The F-word in question? "Fascism". And who is saying it? Conservatives. Specifically, The American Conservative magazine. Here is the money paragraph: And yet the very fact that the f-word can be seriously raised in an American context is evidence enough that we have moved into a new period. The invasion of Iraq has put the possibility of the end to … Read More
More Lies and/or Incompetence
Condi Rice to the 9/11 Committee (quote): "I was in a press conference to try and describe the August 6th memo [the one entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Strike U.S." – KRA], which I’ve talked about here in my opening remarks and which I talked about with you in the private session. And I said, at one point, that this … Read More
Questions About Gannon Put To White House
UPDATE: We are informed here that nobody gets a White House pass, press or otherwise, by using an alias. "Therefore, if Gannon was using an alias, White House staff had to be involved in maintaining his cover." For those who don’t "get" the issue about Gannon (posted here), I think this letter from the Ranking Member of the House Committee … Read More
Rose Colored Glasses Beyond Belief
This is a true exchange. It happened in Omaha last Friday, when Bush was taking his dog-and-pony show on the road: THE PRESIDENT: Good. Okay, Mary, tell us about yourself. MS. MORNIN: Okay, I’m a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters. THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. … Read More
The Saga of Jeff Gannon (Abridged)
UPDATE (Chapter Seven): He can’t stand the heat, so he wisely gets out of the kitchen. White House will have to find a new lackey. Chapter One: Who is Jeff Gannon? With all this talk about media bias, nobody can beat Jeff Gannon. He is a member of the White House press pool. This is the kind of question he … Read More
Vote or Starve
Some Iraqis are alleging that they were told . . . well . . . let’s listen to their words: ”Two of the food dealers I know told me personally that our food rations would be withheld if we did not vote,” said Saeed Jodhet, a 21-year-old engineering student who voted in the Hay al-Jihad district of Baghdad. I’m not … Read More