Yastreblyansky at No More Mister Nice Blog writes—Wretched Access:
Just a note on the CPAC massacre of the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Politico, CNN, and whoever else was barred from Sean Spicer's press gaggle, presumably because they are the outlets developing the most damaging stories on the new administration, to punish them, and outside the issue of whether this development represents the coming of fascism, not to say that it doesn't—
—to say that what this is a blow to in particular is access journalism, the (obviously false) idea that you can get the information your readers need by huddling in a room with all your competitors hearing what the press secretary wants you to hear.
Showing up for the gaggle, being in the reception line for the soup Sean Spicer is dishing out, because it you might get your question noticed is playing their game. I can't understand complaining, as people like David Sanger always did, that Obama was closed to the press because he didn't like to do gaggles and because he preferred his own photographer to 300 photographers watching him play with the dog, when in fact Obama was available to give really detailed interviews on policy, even to relatively stupid people like Chuck Todd and enemies like Jeffrey Goldberg, which provided a far more precise and elaborated view of his views than any herd conference could possibly have obtained.
The most pernicious habit in Washington political journalism is the addiction to access, which leads the papers to pull punches on stories for fear they might not get invited to the next party. This is not how effective journalism is done. [...]
Assuming he finishes out his term, Donald Trump has 1425 days left as pr*sident.
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
“Though many non-Native Americans have learned very little about us, over time we have had to learn everything about them. We watch their films, read their literature, worship in their churches, and attend their schools. Every third-grade student in the United States is presented with the concept of Europeans discovering America as a "New World" with fertile soil, abundant gifts of nature, and glorious mountains and rivers. Only the most enlightened teachers will explain that this world certainly wasn't new to the millions of indigenous people who already lived here when Columbus arrived.”
~Wilma Mankiller, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, 1993
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2012—Pew poll: Americans hate regulation, unless they know what it does:
You've got to hand it to conservative narrative-creator Frank Luntz and his Republicans. Hammer a theme long enough, and it sinks in. In this case, "job-killing" regulations, which a big chunk of Americans think is horrible. Check out the latest Pew poll:
Currently, 52% say government regulation of business usually does more harm than good while 40% think regulating business is necessary to protect the public interest. These views are similar to January 2008, before the financial crisis and onset of the economic recession.
Last March, opinion was more divided; 47% said regulating business is necessary to protect the public interest while 45% said government regulation does more harm than good.
Most of the difference between last year and now is among Republicans, spoon-fed by their elected representatives and becoming more and more entrenched in their fear and hatred of government. Three-quarters of them share the opinion that regulation does more harm than good, and 83 percent of self-identified conservative Republicans say regulation is harmful. But the numbers really start to erode when the survey gets past the broad idea of regulation, and starts drilling down to what the term actually means.
HIGH IMPACT STORIES • TOP COMMENTS
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Trump camp caught leaning on the FBI. Now that Felix Sater is big news, who’s the next Russian to watch? No one could have predicted this, but easier gun availability is tied to more gun problems. AZ moves to outlaw protest. Was Trump’s Big Data just BS?
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