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Follow the Money, Indeed |
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Politico is reporting that the Washington Post circulated a flier offering lobbyists off the record access to elected officials as well as the paper’s own reporters and editors–at a price ranging from $25,000 to $250,000. The first access-for-sale event the Post had in mind was aimed at the topic of health care reform. One lobbyist who received the offer apparently passed it along to a reporter with Politico, providing the understated observation that it would be a conflict for the paper to charge for access to its health care reporting and editorial staff. It’s not clear whether any elected officials, or administration officials, had agreed to be there, but that would certainly be disturbing, to say the least, if it’s the case.
In a post yesterday, I noted that, while there is overwhelming support for health care reform, including the public option, the fight for reform has been a difficult one, in part, because of the traditional media’s failure to accurately and fairly report on the issue. I wrote about one Post reporter, Ceci Connolly, who has falled short of that standard. Connolly says she was told she would be invited to the event the Politico reported on. That’s disturbing.
The Post’s crass offer should remind us of larger problems: (1) that political access seems to be for sale to those who can afford it (and unavailable to those who cannot) and (2) traditional media types seem to have a pretty cozy relationship with the elected officials they cover, as has been noted in other contexts.
The term “follow the money” is associated with Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who broke the Nixon administration’s malfeasance at the Watergate and beyond wide open (though it’s not clear the reporters themselves came up with this term). Woodward and Bernstein stand for the ideal that media ought to hold elected officials accountable. The Politico story about today’s Post suggests the paper would rather connect elected officials with lobbyists, in exchange for a fee.
You state %u201CIt%u2019s not clear whether any elected officials, or administration officials, had agreed to be there, but that would certainly be disturbing, to say the least, if it%u2019s the case.%u201D You are being overgenerous to say the least . Do you really believe the Post would print and distribute flyers offering private off the record meetings with senior administration officials without having it set up in advance? Furthermore, if you follow the money then these %u201Csenior administrative%u201D officials will be getting a cut of the fee. Sure sounds like bribery to me. Where is the Justice Dept investigation or is this just more good ole Chicago politics? This is followed by The Huffington Post%u2019s planted question and reveals what is likely a systemic corruption of the media in this political season. The ABC White House telecast on health care is another example of the corruption. ABC could have mitigated the criticism had they presented credible dissenting opinions, but they were so deep into the bag they failed to do so. This administration has had a virtually free ride from typical media scrutiny and as such is following the most far left policy shifts ever seen in this country. It%u2019s time to hold the media accountable to do some journalism for a change.
The Obama does not receive a “free ride” from media scrutiny. Here are some examples of media outlets/figures that have been extremely critical of the administration: Morning Joe (Scarborough, Buchanan et al have spent considerable time arguing that Obama’s economic policies are disastrous), Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck (Beck recently had a guest, Michael Scheuer, who said “the only chance” America has right now is if Bin Laden detonates a major weapon within the US), Fox News, Lou Dobbs, The Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Michael Savage, Charles Krauthammer, and many right wing blogs. In addition, C-Span regularly interviews people, including elected Republican officials, who are critical of Obama (in fact, all cable TV channels do this). Dick Cheney and his daughter have been all over the airwaves defending torture and criticizing Obama’s security policies.
It’s not just right wingers. Paul Krugman of the NY Times just wrote a colum saying Obama’s stimulus plan is not good enough, and it’s not the first time he has been critical of Obama’s approach. Blogger Glenn Greenwald is very critical of Obama’s continuation of Bush-era interrogation and detention policies. Rachel Maddow has criticized Obama’s approach to LGBT issues, as have many others, including writers on Daily Kos.
That’s just off the top of my head. It’s time for right-wingers to stop playing the victim when it comes to the media. There are plenty of right-wing media outlets and media figures, and a number of them are keeping up a non-stop stream of criticism of Obama. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, and I think Obama is far from perfect–I agree with the criticisms leveled by Krugman, Greenwald, and Maddow. But just flip on Morning Joe any morning, or Fox News, or turn on Rush Limbaugh if you think Obama is getting a free pass.
You are not going to try to convince anyone that Obama has not received a virtual free ride from the mainstream press — I hope. You can’t be that blind. Concerning the rest the right winged media you cite– look at the lefts vile and continuous attacks on them. You need to stop the bigotry Chris and look objectively for a change. We are being bankrupted and to many want to continue spending and taxing with impunity.