Former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who
blamed unnamed forces friendly to the Obama administration for her recent departure from the network, has an interesting theory as to why watchdog group Media Matters
kept finding fault with her reports on Obamacare or green energy. And by "interesting,"
I mean silly.
ATTKISSON: Media Matters, by my understanding, is a far-left blog group that I think holds itself out to be sort of an independent media watchdog group. And, yes, they clearly targeted me at some point. They used to work with me on stories, try to help me, you know, produce my stories. [...]
And I was certainly friendly with them as anybody. Good information can come from any source. But when I persisted with Fast & Furious and some of the green energy stories that I was doing, I clearly at some point became a target. I don’t know if someone paid them to do it or they just took it on their own, but they were very much --
STELTER: Do you think that's possible that someone paid them? [...]
ATTKISSON: Perhaps, sure. I think that's what some of these groups do, absolutely.
The other possibility is that some of those stories were flawed, and the media watchdog group pointed that out because that's what media watchdog groups do. Supposing that someone didn't like your "Fast & Furious" story because they were paid off not to sounds a little too self-regarding. You're so perfect that if people find issues with your reports,
it's a plot against you?
Media Matters responded:
But Attkisson's claims are false. Media Matters has never taken contributions to target her or any other reporter. We have published research on her reports on green energy and Obamacare, among other topics, when those reports have been inaccurate or misleading -- the same standard to which we hold any other reporter.
I don't know how you would survive as a national reporter if you're the thin-skinned sort, but it sure seems to happen a lot. Then you move to Fox News, where being thin-skinned is a job requirement.