The question we're asking (and Keith Olbermann is pursuing) is how much money, and to whom? Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox News are now all suspect.
Armstrong Williams Column Axed by TMS
Tribune Media Services (TMS) today terminated its contract with columnist Armstrong Williams, effective immediately. But Williams told [Editor and Publisher] tonight that he plans to continue his feature via self-syndication.
TMS' action came after USA Today reported this morning that Williams had accepted $240,000 from the Bush administration to promote the No Child Left Behind education-reform law on his TV and radio shows. E & P subsequently reported that Williams had also written about NCLB in his newspaper column at least four times last year.
In a statement, TMS said: "[A]ccepting compensation in any form from an entity that serves as a subject of his weekly newspaper columns creates, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest. Under these circumstances, readers may well ask themselves if the views expressed in his columns are his own, or whether they have been purchased by a third party."
- Hoffmania