Sherrie Gossett
White House Press Corps Dismisses "Gannongate"
Thu Mar 17, 2005 14:53
64.140.158.39
White House Press Corps Dismisses "Gannongate"
By Sherrie Gossett | March 17, 2005
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/2761_0_2_0_C/
"We wanted to err on the side of inclusion . . . Once you start dictating who is a journalist, you go down a slippery slope."
Well, it's official. The White House Correspondents' Association has weighed in on "Gannongate," saying "individual episodes" should not prompt a crackdown on credentialing. That was a reference to a conservative reporter, Jeff Gannon, heavily criticized for asking anti-Democrat questions. Matt Drudge reported on February 28 that in a resolution adopted at a meeting in Washington that morning, the association said it "stands for inclusiveness in the credentialing process so that the White House remains accessible to all journalists We hope that individual episodes do not obscure the broader principles of a fair and evenhanded credentialing process."
The resolution explained that since 1914, the White House Correspondents' Association has operated independently of the White House and the White House credentialing process. "We intend for the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) to remain independent of that process," they wrote, adding that the process serves the goal of a free and full exchange of information.
"We wanted to err on the side of inclusion," Steve Scully of C-SPAN told the L.A. Times. Scully serves on the executive board of the WHCA. "Once you start dictating who is a journalist, you go down a slippery slope."
This is not surprising. The WHCA did not launch this crusade against Gannon. (It was launched by the left-leaning Media Matters for America.). In fact, if you look at C-SPAN clips of White House press briefings, it seems that established and well-known reporters often chuckle and grin good-naturedly when Les Kinsolving, Jeff Gannon and others writing for online news services ask loaded questions. It seems this presence has always been part of the White House press room "culture" and that it has livened up the proceedings.
Sarah McLendon, who described herself as a "citizen journalist," ran her McLendon News Service out of her own cluttered D.C. apartment. The elderly McLendon once lobbed this softball at President Clinton: "Sir, will you tell us why you think people have been so mean to you?" AIM editor Cliff Kincaid noted that the media had long tolerated not only McLendon but liberals such as Helen Thomas and Naderite Russell Mokhiber, who once asked White House spokesman Scott McLellan if President Bush had violated the sixth commandment when he launched the Iraq war.
Johanna Neuman of the Los Angeles Times was one of the few reporters who put the story into appropriate context. Her story, dated February 27, said, "…the White House press corps is not the thoroughly screened and scrubbed journalistic elite Americans might presume. Along with stars of the country's major media organizations, it has long included eccentrics and fringe players."
Neuman explained, "Marlin Fitzwater, former press secretary to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said in an interview that he created day passes in response to a federal court decision in the late 1970s requiring the White House to admit all journalists unless the Secret Service deemed them threats to the president or his immediate family." That lawsuit, Neuman wrote, involved Robert Sherrill of The Nation, who was denied a press pass on the advice of the Secret Service, because he had punched out the press secretary to the governor of Florida.
Since then, Neuman explained, the White House press corps has attracted an "array of unusual personalities." She cites Naomi Nover of "Nover News Service" whose work no one ever saw published. "Lester Kinsolving, conservative radio commentator, wore a clerical collar to White House briefings in the Reagan years," she notes, "His loud voice and off-beat, argumentative questions often provoked laughter."
There were plenty of people in the mainstream media willing to hawk the non-story of Gannongate to an audience not versed in White House press room history. It's a shame more reporters did not make the effort to place the story in historic and factual context, as Neuman did.
======================
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Why would the US military ignore 9-11 and other crimes?
These excerpts from 8 hours of interview of Kay Griggs (available at 888-820-2126) show one reason.
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CREW Releases Report 'Addicted to Porn: Members of Congress Accept Political Contributions from Porn Purveyors'
3/10/2005 11:30:00 AM
To: National Desk
Contact: Naomi Seligman of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 202-588-5565, Web: http://www.citizensforethics.org
WASHINGTON, March 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a report Addicted to Porn: Members of Congress Accept Political Contributions from Porn Purveyors. The report details how 15 Members of Congress, including 11 Representatives and four Senators, all of whom revile pornography, have accepted campaign contributions from corporations and executives who derive substantial profits from selling pornography.
The report contains four sections: 1) how companies make money from pornography; 2) which companies have PACs that make campaign contributions; 3) which Members of Congress receive these contributions; and 4) the quotes of Members of Congress named in the report who have publicly condemned pornography. In addition, an appendix to the report details the contributions made from corporations and executives to Members of Congress.
CREW's executive director Melanie Sloan stated "it is one thing to be silent on the issue and accept porn purveyor's contributions. However, these Members of Congress attempt to slap pornographers with fines and legislative restrictions with one hand and turn around and accept porn profits with the other. Our report details the hypocrisy of this 'skin caucus.'"
Some of the findings of the report:
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) -- who equivocates pornography with crack cocaine -- accepted $17,000 from porn peddlers.
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) -- who has long campaigned against the growing coarseness of our culture -- along with renown gambling addict William Bennet, handed out "Silver Sewer" awards to those who made immoral videos, and who has criticized MTV for having porn stars on the air, accepted over $16,000.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who leads the charge against indecency, accepted over $56,000.
Arizona Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who claimed to be the "anti-porn" presidential candidate in ads that ran prior to the South Carolina primary, pocketed $46,000 from corporations and executives who profit from porn.
Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director referred to Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) as "the biggest hypocrite of all" for having written a letter to former Vice President Al Gore demanding that he return a contribution from an adult entertainment web site and for sanctimoniously ranting at Viacom executives that they cared more about profits than morality, despite accepting $47,000 in porn profits.
A copy of the report can be found on the Web at http://www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman at press@citizensforethics.org .
------
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, progressive legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=44149
REPORT: http://www.citizensforethics.org/filelibrary/2005310_addicted_to_porn.pdf Appendix http://www.citizensforethics.org/filelibrary/20050310_appendix_addicted.pdf
================================================
By Sherrie Gossett | March 17, 2005
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/2761_0_2_0_C/
"We wanted to err on the side of inclusion . . . Once you start dictating who is a journalist, you go down a slippery slope."
Well, it's official. The White House Correspondents' Association has weighed in on "Gannongate," saying "individual episodes" should not prompt a crackdown on credentialing. That was a reference to a conservative reporter, Jeff Gannon, heavily criticized for asking anti-Democrat questions. Matt Drudge reported on February 28 that in a resolution adopted at a meeting in Washington that morning, the association said it "stands for inclusiveness in the credentialing process so that the White House remains accessible to all journalists We hope that individual episodes do not obscure the broader principles of a fair and evenhanded credentialing process."
The resolution explained that since 1914, the White House Correspondents' Association has operated independently of the White House and the White House credentialing process. "We intend for the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) to remain independent of that process," they wrote, adding that the process serves the goal of a free and full exchange of information.
"We wanted to err on the side of inclusion," Steve Scully of C-SPAN told the L.A. Times. Scully serves on the executive board of the WHCA. "Once you start dictating who is a journalist, you go down a slippery slope."
This is not surprising. The WHCA did not launch this crusade against Gannon. (It was launched by the left-leaning Media Matters for America.). In fact, if you look at C-SPAN clips of White House press briefings, it seems that established and well-known reporters often chuckle and grin good-naturedly when Les Kinsolving, Jeff Gannon and others writing for online news services ask loaded questions. It seems this presence has always been part of the White House press room "culture" and that it has livened up the proceedings.
Sarah McLendon, who described herself as a "citizen journalist," ran her McLendon News Service out of her own cluttered D.C. apartment. The elderly McLendon once lobbed this softball at President Clinton: "Sir, will you tell us why you think people have been so mean to you?" AIM editor Cliff Kincaid noted that the media had long tolerated not only McLendon but liberals such as Helen Thomas and Naderite Russell Mokhiber, who once asked White House spokesman Scott McLellan if President Bush had violated the sixth commandment when he launched the Iraq war.
Johanna Neuman of the Los Angeles Times was one of the few reporters who put the story into appropriate context. Her story, dated February 27, said, "…the White House press corps is not the thoroughly screened and scrubbed journalistic elite Americans might presume. Along with stars of the country's major media organizations, it has long included eccentrics and fringe players."
Neuman explained, "Marlin Fitzwater, former press secretary to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said in an interview that he created day passes in response to a federal court decision in the late 1970s requiring the White House to admit all journalists unless the Secret Service deemed them threats to the president or his immediate family." That lawsuit, Neuman wrote, involved Robert Sherrill of The Nation, who was denied a press pass on the advice of the Secret Service, because he had punched out the press secretary to the governor of Florida.
Since then, Neuman explained, the White House press corps has attracted an "array of unusual personalities." She cites Naomi Nover of "Nover News Service" whose work no one ever saw published. "Lester Kinsolving, conservative radio commentator, wore a clerical collar to White House briefings in the Reagan years," she notes, "His loud voice and off-beat, argumentative questions often provoked laughter."
There were plenty of people in the mainstream media willing to hawk the non-story of Gannongate to an audience not versed in White House press room history. It's a shame more reporters did not make the effort to place the story in historic and factual context, as Neuman did.
======================
Urgent recent developments in the Franklin satanic cult/sex/drug ring
http://www.apfn.org/APFN/RING.HTM
Kay Griggs wife of Colonel George Griggs
Why would the US military ignore 9-11 and other crimes?
These excerpts from 8 hours of interview of Kay Griggs (available at 888-820-2126) show one reason.
Kay is another woman who wants a better world. Video: http://www.apfn.org/movies/Griggs.wmv 16MB
http://www.hugequestions.com/
CREW Releases Report 'Addicted to Porn: Members of Congress Accept Political Contributions from Porn Purveyors'
3/10/2005 11:30:00 AM
To: National Desk
Contact: Naomi Seligman of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 202-588-5565, Web: http://www.citizensforethics.org
WASHINGTON, March 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a report Addicted to Porn: Members of Congress Accept Political Contributions from Porn Purveyors. The report details how 15 Members of Congress, including 11 Representatives and four Senators, all of whom revile pornography, have accepted campaign contributions from corporations and executives who derive substantial profits from selling pornography.
The report contains four sections: 1) how companies make money from pornography; 2) which companies have PACs that make campaign contributions; 3) which Members of Congress receive these contributions; and 4) the quotes of Members of Congress named in the report who have publicly condemned pornography. In addition, an appendix to the report details the contributions made from corporations and executives to Members of Congress.
CREW's executive director Melanie Sloan stated "it is one thing to be silent on the issue and accept porn purveyor's contributions. However, these Members of Congress attempt to slap pornographers with fines and legislative restrictions with one hand and turn around and accept porn profits with the other. Our report details the hypocrisy of this 'skin caucus.'"
Some of the findings of the report:
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) -- who equivocates pornography with crack cocaine -- accepted $17,000 from porn peddlers.
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) -- who has long campaigned against the growing coarseness of our culture -- along with renown gambling addict William Bennet, handed out "Silver Sewer" awards to those who made immoral videos, and who has criticized MTV for having porn stars on the air, accepted over $16,000.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who leads the charge against indecency, accepted over $56,000.
Arizona Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who claimed to be the "anti-porn" presidential candidate in ads that ran prior to the South Carolina primary, pocketed $46,000 from corporations and executives who profit from porn.
Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director referred to Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) as "the biggest hypocrite of all" for having written a letter to former Vice President Al Gore demanding that he return a contribution from an adult entertainment web site and for sanctimoniously ranting at Viacom executives that they cared more about profits than morality, despite accepting $47,000 in porn profits.
A copy of the report can be found on the Web at http://www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman at press@citizensforethics.org .
------
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, progressive legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=44149
REPORT: http://www.citizensforethics.org/filelibrary/2005310_addicted_to_porn.pdf Appendix http://www.citizensforethics.org/filelibrary/20050310_appendix_addicted.pdf
================================================
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