Obama's Button Men (And Women)
Media Bias: Journalists like to claim they speak truth to power. But when Barack Obama wields that power, they're all too willing to do his bidding, even if it means attacking one of their own. Just ask Jodi Kantor.
Kantor's book, "The Obamas," is hardly some right-wing hit piece. She's a New York Times correspondent who spent years interviewing hundreds of Obama staffers and associates to compile a book focused on Michelle and Barack's relationship and the inner workings of the White House.
But Kantor did manage to unearth some less than flattering tidbits, such as the Halloween extravaganza the Obamas threw themselves in 2009 — when unemployment was 10% — and then hushed up; or the strife between Michelle and former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel; or the fact that former press secretary Robert Gibbs "had a tense relationship" with the first lady.
There's nothing particularly earth-shattering in any of this, but it was enough to set the White House at Defcon 1, launching an "early and often" attack on the book that culminated with Michelle's complaint that it made her look like "an angry black woman."
And that was enough to get Obama's media goon squad to start attacking Kantor.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien dutifully followed the White House spin, ripping into Kantor and ranting, "You have not interviewed her. You have not interviewed her!"
Piers Morgan later called Kantor a "controversial author" and suggested the focus on Michelle was unfair, since she's not president. (Morgan apparently missed the media's fixation on Nancy Reagan.)
The Washington Post's Erik Wemple said Kantor had "abandoned her journalist senses" and turned in a half-baked tome with unreliable revelations because she got paid big bucks in advance.
The same unhappy fate befell Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who described discord among Obama's economic team in his book "Confidence Men." Suskind was savagely attacked by the administration (which "carpet-bombed" the book, according to Politico). But instead of recoiling at this display of White House paranoia, a compliant press instead followed up with killer blows.
Suskind was pummeled by "Today Show" host Ann Curry, who hit him repeatedly over the head with White House talking points. Mika Brzezinski angrily grilled him on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
And various news reports focused on nit-picking inaccuracies in the book while ignoring its troubling portrayal of an inexperienced president in over his head.
Contrast this with the reception Suskind got on the "Today Show" a few years earlier when his unkind book about the Bush economic team came out.
Then-host Katie Couric lobbed one softball after another, along the lines of "What, in your view, are the bombshells here?"
Indeed, when reporters attack Republicans, they're feted by their colleagues. The more vicious the attacks, the bigger the rewards.
David Gregory's belligerent questions during the Bush years won him a coveted spot as host of "Meet the Press. And Couric temporarily salvaged her dying career as CBS News anchor with a perfectly executed slam job of then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
For most reporters, none of this is a problem. Despite endless protestations of fairness and balance, they're so liberal and agenda-driven that their only abiding interest is in digging up dirt on all those evil, miscreant, Neanderthal Republicans.
But for any honest journalist who just wants to ferret out the truth and keep politicians — on both sides of the aisle — honest, the message is crystal clear. If you want a future in mainstream journalism, you'd better not train your sights on a Democrat, particularly when he's sitting in the White House.
http://news.investors.com/Article/598316/201201191838/journalists-attack-their-own-to-protect-obama-WEBTITLE-Journalists-Act-Like-an-Obama-Protection-Racket.htm
Kantor's book, "The Obamas," is hardly some right-wing hit piece. She's a New York Times correspondent who spent years interviewing hundreds of Obama staffers and associates to compile a book focused on Michelle and Barack's relationship and the inner workings of the White House.
But Kantor did manage to unearth some less than flattering tidbits, such as the Halloween extravaganza the Obamas threw themselves in 2009 — when unemployment was 10% — and then hushed up; or the strife between Michelle and former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel; or the fact that former press secretary Robert Gibbs "had a tense relationship" with the first lady.
There's nothing particularly earth-shattering in any of this, but it was enough to set the White House at Defcon 1, launching an "early and often" attack on the book that culminated with Michelle's complaint that it made her look like "an angry black woman."
And that was enough to get Obama's media goon squad to start attacking Kantor.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien dutifully followed the White House spin, ripping into Kantor and ranting, "You have not interviewed her. You have not interviewed her!"
Piers Morgan later called Kantor a "controversial author" and suggested the focus on Michelle was unfair, since she's not president. (Morgan apparently missed the media's fixation on Nancy Reagan.)
The Washington Post's Erik Wemple said Kantor had "abandoned her journalist senses" and turned in a half-baked tome with unreliable revelations because she got paid big bucks in advance.
The same unhappy fate befell Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who described discord among Obama's economic team in his book "Confidence Men." Suskind was savagely attacked by the administration (which "carpet-bombed" the book, according to Politico). But instead of recoiling at this display of White House paranoia, a compliant press instead followed up with killer blows.
Suskind was pummeled by "Today Show" host Ann Curry, who hit him repeatedly over the head with White House talking points. Mika Brzezinski angrily grilled him on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
And various news reports focused on nit-picking inaccuracies in the book while ignoring its troubling portrayal of an inexperienced president in over his head.
Contrast this with the reception Suskind got on the "Today Show" a few years earlier when his unkind book about the Bush economic team came out.
Then-host Katie Couric lobbed one softball after another, along the lines of "What, in your view, are the bombshells here?"
Indeed, when reporters attack Republicans, they're feted by their colleagues. The more vicious the attacks, the bigger the rewards.
David Gregory's belligerent questions during the Bush years won him a coveted spot as host of "Meet the Press. And Couric temporarily salvaged her dying career as CBS News anchor with a perfectly executed slam job of then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
For most reporters, none of this is a problem. Despite endless protestations of fairness and balance, they're so liberal and agenda-driven that their only abiding interest is in digging up dirt on all those evil, miscreant, Neanderthal Republicans.
But for any honest journalist who just wants to ferret out the truth and keep politicians — on both sides of the aisle — honest, the message is crystal clear. If you want a future in mainstream journalism, you'd better not train your sights on a Democrat, particularly when he's sitting in the White House.
http://news.investors.com/Article/598316/201201191838/journalists-attack-their-own-to-protect-obama-WEBTITLE-Journalists-Act-Like-an-Obama-Protection-Racket.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment