On 2/11/05, I sent an email to the Houston Chronicle complaining about how their Gannongate story of 2/10/05 neglected all the pertinant facts, and in a round about way called them (the Chronicle) cowards for not reporting the full story.
My letter did not get published, but in today's editorial section there is a harsh commentary - attributed to no single writer, just the paper - detailing Gannongate and accusing the Bush administration of trying to use the media as propagandists.
Nice.
For my letter, I borrowed heavily from facts provided by Markos and other members of the DKos community:
Regarding 2/11/05 "Newsman using false name quits"
It is a sad day for journalists when a handful of bloggers are better at researching the facts in a story with possible ties to the Bush administration, and sadder still when journalists don't learn the lesson and provide better information for their readers.
The article attributed Eberle as claiming Talon News reached "about a half million subscribers every weekday." However a quick search of internet site statistics at www.alexa.com would indicate otherwise - Talon's web site is ranked 640,377th on the internet, where www.houstonchronicle.com is ranked 15,040th with about 120,000 hits per day. Are we to really believe that Talon News, ranked far, far lower than the Houston Chronicle, is really generating 500,000 hits per day? (Highly doubtful)
"In two years of regularly attending White House press conferences, Guckert never applied for a so-called "hard pass" credential...Guckert opted for a daily pass, which required him to submit his full name, Social Security number..." Using which name, I wonder? It is documented that Bush and McLellan called upon Guckert as "Jeff," his pseudoname with Talon News. So, are we to believe that the White House - home of the tightest security measures of any building the entire country - simply ignore their own security protocols and allow him access under an alias?
Further, the Chronicle neglected to mention that Guckert/Gannon had already been denied accreditation to the Congessional Press Gallery because the Standing Committee of Correspondents determined that Talon News was not considered a news publication service (but a private venture). These documents are public record.
"By using an alias, Guckert concealed that as Jeff Gannon he was associated with a number of Web sites that had names with sexual connotations..." Associated? Try OWNED, according to ICANN records. And not just any old "sexual connotations," but domains inferring gay military escort services. Do I really need to point out the hypocrisy of a so-called conservative journalist working for a website geared to conservative publications and causes being associated with this kind of material? And I thought conservatives were all about "moral values" - guess I know better now.
I really wish that journalists at the Houston Chronicle - and at other major publications in this country - would spend half as much time researching the facts as some public citizens with internet access. Even better would be for journalists and the Chronicle to have the courage to publish them.
Regards,
<my real name>
Today, the Houston Chronicle publishes MORE PROPAGANDA: Fake reporter's questioning of the president fits into the administration's widening pattern of manufactured journalism. (All bolded emphasis following is mine.)
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
The unmasking of an alleged journalist who used a pseudonym to gain access to White House briefings and news conferences raises more questions about the Bush administration's tactics for securing favorable news. James Guckert, who used the Talon News byline "Jeff Gannon," managed to get access to the White House on a daily basis for two years.
Guckert questioned President Bush at a January news conference last month, tossing a softball query that ridiculed Democrats for "being divorced from reality." The organization Guckert worked for turned out to be an arm of a partisan group, GOPUSA, a conservative Web site based in Houston and dedicated to "spreading the conservative message throughout America." It turns out Talon News was created only a few days before Guckert first applied for a White House daily pass.
Guckert was denied similar credentials to cover Capitol Hill because of questions about his legitimacy as a reporter. His identity was exposed by bloggers, and he turned out to be associated with a number of sexually oriented Web sites. Guckert resigned, claiming harassment by liberals.
Guckert's only credential as a journalist appears to be attendance at a two-day seminar by the conservative Leadership Oriented Broadcast Journalism School. He apparently gained access to the White House using little more than a fake name, a Social Security number, and date of birth. In an age of heightened security, it's hard to believe this lapse could occur without someone inside the White House vouching for Guckert. The alternative would be little meaningful security at the executive mansion.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said President Bush did not know who Guckert was. A journalist familiar with the process says it's likely Bush was tipped by his press staff that "the bald guy would lob him an easy one." If so, setting up ringers to toss fawning questions to the president is another indication, if any were needed, that the administration prefers the media to be propagandists rather than independent inquisitors.
At least there's no indication the White House was involved in directly paying Guckert for his services, as the administration did in three other recent incidents. Last month, conservative commentator Armstrong Williams apologized for not disclosing that his company had received $240,000 from a public relations agency hired by the Department of Education to promote Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.
Syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher also apologized to her readers for not disclosing a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help create materials used to promote Bush's $300 million initiative encouraging marriage to strengthen families.
HHS later disclosed that a third conservative columnist, Mike McManus, had received $10,000 to promote Bush's marriage initiative, according to an Associated Press report. His weekly column appears in about 50 newspapers.
The practice of buying ostensibly independent reporters and writers to shill for politicians deceives the public and corrupts the free media. Allowing fake reporters to compete with credentialed journalists for sparse press conference time with the leader of the free world demeans the whole process.
Now, I'm not going to take credit for the Houston Chronicle suddenly stepping up and reporting the truth, subsequentially putting Bush in a negative light in his "home state" of Texas.
But I love it nonetheless.
[editor's note, by bionicKitty] Anybody who wants to send a thank you to the Houston Chronicle for reporting Gannongate can send emails to viewpoints@chron.com