In the spirit of Festivus, The WP post printed the Airing of Grievances by White House Reporters this morning. Chief among their list of grievances is that WH Press Secretary Jay Carney and his team are mean to them when they get facts wrong and/or engage in bias reporting.
What especially seems to rankle their delicate sensibilities is that Carney and his team use swear words and sarcasm to challenge the errors in their reporting. This hurts their fee-fees and inspired their Airing of Grievances for Festivus:
“They shoot first and ask questions later,” said Julie Mason, who has reported on the George W. Bush and Obama White Houses for the Houston Chronicle, the Washington Examiner and Politico. In one of the e-mails that reporters have dubbed “nastygrams,” White House press secretary Jay Carney branded one of Mason’s stories “partisan, inflammatory and tendentious.” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor, reacting to comments Mason made in a TV discussion, sent her an e-mail that included an animated picture of a crying mime — a visual suggestion that she was whining. [snip]
Carl Cannon, a longtime political journalist who is the Washington editor of the Web site Real Clear Politics, says he recently got zinged. After his site posted a headline and video of President Obama promoting a political fundraising raffle at the White House in June — which Republicans said could be a violation of campaign-finance law — Cannon heard about it in no uncertain terms. A deputy press official let loose “a screaming, profane diatribe that lasted two or three phone calls,” Cannon recalled. “It hurt my ear.” [snip]
But Condon, who writes for the National Journal, also says some of the interactions he has witnessed make this White House “different to a degree than what I’ve seen from earlier White Houses.” After a colleague wrote a column that was critical of Obama this year, he was hammered by e-mailed criticism from media officials, even though the president and much of his communications staff were in London at the time, Condon said.
Some of the missives are “strongly worded,” said Condon, who added, “I think they’d be better off to count to 10 before hitting the send button.”
Not all members of the WH Press decided to celebrate Festivus–some like Tapper and Thrush didn’t see any wrong with push-back on stories, but you get the impression that most of the folks are WATB.
And when it comes to bias reporting, the Obama White House has a strong case to make. In October, the Pew Research Center released a report tracking news coverage of all GOP Presidential candidates and President Obama from five months of this year. The coverage of President Obama was 4:1 negative and much of that reporting was rooted in falsehoods and the unconditional embrace of wingnut spin by the reporters covering the White House. And yet when their bias and errors are pointed out, these reporters get a major sad and weep about their hurt fee-fees–especially when somebody in the White House accurately calls them fucking idiots who drink wingnut koolaid like water.
In the spirit of Festivus, feel free to air your grievances about our failed media experiment.
Cheers
Villago Delenda Est
I’m thinking of a two word expression that conveys the sympathy I feel toward members of the White House press corpse.
1000 quatloos to the first Juicer who can, through the process of ‘tube telepathy, identify that two word expression.
beltane
The Washington media? I gotta problem with all of them. If someone wants to gather all these assholes up and tie them to the Festivus pole, I will gladly supply the rope.
Bulworth
At least the WP ran this junk in the Style section and not in the News section, although I think doing so was an insult to the Style section.
Bulworth
@Villago Delenda Est: Win!
Hunter Gathers
What about the feats of strength?
Villago Delenda Est
@Hunter Gathers:
We’re dealing with a brotherhood of weak tea here. No feats of strength to be found.
Zandar
@Hunter Gathers:
You notice I haven’t set Luke Russert on fire with thermite yet.
That is strength defined.
Villago Delenda Est
@efgoldman:
Ok, three words, but close enough! 1000 quatloos to efgoldman!
Tom Hilton
Poor Julie Mason just hates it when people use big words (like “tendentious”) that she’s never heard of before.
amk
Fuck these fifth columnists. They can all go suck an egg. Collectively. And a rotten one at that.
PeakVT
Is WATB contagious? There seems to be a lot of sniveling going on lately.
ETA: On further thought, it seems to be a disease of the rich and their apologists. Everybody here should be safe, with one or two exceptions.
Nix
Julie Mason’s bio photo has a nice bit of boob showing.
Just saying…
She is on the heavy side but that could be a plus if you like to slap it around with your penis.
LOL
James K. Polk, Esq.
I really, REALLY want to wrestle some pundits.
Then come the noogies.
Cat Lady
If anyone paid any attention to this sorry bunch of WATBs, the 4:1 negative coverage would result in Obama’s poll numbers being in the 27% range, like the Deserting Coward’s was when he left – even after his constant fluffing by the same said WATBs. They ought to be asking themselves whether fellating Boy Blunder was all worth it. Oh wait, never mind. I crack myself up sometimes.
pluege
that would be great if the WH went on the attack for the crap that passes for “reporting” in this country. The insane republicans/conservatives have stolen the national dialogue where anything from center to left can’t even be spoken anymore, to great disservice and damage to the country. It is the crap corporate media that has made this sorry state of affairs with their endless kowtowing and mainstreaming right wing extremism, and their ‘both sides do it’ complete lying nonsense. Its long over do for pushback on the corporate media’s major fail to do their job honestly and professionally.
beltane
@Hunter Gathers: A George Will/Cokie Roberts wrestling match?
Marc
Wait a minute… May of 2011… I seem to remember Obama scored some kind of pretty major accomplishment back then.
And according to this chart, apparently it sent his press coverage soaring up to 15% positive.
Napoleon
What a bunch of whiners.
slag
My favorite part of that Pew report is seeing all the love piled on Perry, Palin, and Bachmann in graph form. Usually, my big issue with these kinds of studies is that they don’t take reality into account. So, if Obama is getting a ton of negative press, you can’t really tell–without other contextualizing details–whether or not it’s deserved. But this graph gives some nice incontrovertible context demonstrating just how full of fail our media experiment has been.
Wee Bey
Biased.
Josie
What do I not like about pundits and political reporters? Wow, where to begin?
The answer lies in the fact that I read only online reports and only those on the Blogroll. My blood pressure does much better when I ignore all others.
Frankensteinbeck
I’m really beginning to wonder if Nick was telling the truth when he said that he worked at the networks and the word had come down on high that they were going to tank Obama, no ifs, ands, or butts.
I still like the ‘Cult Of The Savvy’ explanation that they’re just stuck up horse-race dimwits who are easily manipulated by anyone who doesn’t give a fuck about good governing. But damn.
clayton
Why didn’t they mention that Julie Mason also wrote for Seventeen mag?
Mason is a former Republican political operative and a piece of work. I’m glad she’s not at the Houston Chronicle anymore.
Napoleon
@Frankensteinbeck:
Who is Nick?
JGabriel
This line is wonderful:
Right. No administration ever differentiated between friendly and unfriendly reporters before. It’s not like Nixon had an enemy’s list, or Bush/Cheney ever tried to freeze out or prosecute reporters who criticized them.
Bwahahaha.
.
JGabriel
Dennis G. @ Top:
OR, they whine that they get complaints from both sides (crazy AND sane), therefore they MUST be doing it right!
.
wrb
@Tom Hilton:
I’ve decided that use of “tendentious” is a surefire identifier of a right-wing “intellectual” who is stupid. Come across that word, look to the to or bottom and you’ll find it is the work of Goldberg or the like.
4tehlulz
What if he gave them condescending nicknames? Would they report on him more positively?
Nellcote
They used to complain that Robert Gibbs didn’t return their phone calls.
eemom
the bottomest fathoms of the deepest sea are inadequate to contain my contempt for these whining, overpaid, self-important hacks, not one of whom I have ever heard ask Carney or any other WH press sec an intelligent question and indeed none of whom would recognize an intelligent question if it bit them on the ass and introduced itself.
ChrisNYC
I love the way Jay Carney deals with that twerp Ed Henry. Any day now, Carney is just going to cut to the chase and say, in his smooth nice guy way, “Ed, let’s face it, you’re ridiculous.”
Nellcote
@JGabriel:
And Bush didn’t actually have right wing radio row broadcasting from the WH.
Frankensteinbeck
@Napoleon:
Commenter from around the time Obama got elected. Very doomsayer in general.
fasteddie9318
Say what? Have I crossed over into Opposite Earth or something? Majority of which reporters? What story?
JMG
I was a sportswriter for almost 30 years. Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but it was the accepted ethos among us childish toy department hacks that OF COURSE the people you covered weren’t going to like what you wrote and would bitch about — usually loudly. Complaining about that fact in public was a sign of weakness verging on sissihood.
Bill
Airing of grievances, huh? Well, back in the days we of the journalistic tribe walked through snow drifts of attacks from officials, and we liked it. True, we were hammered for accurate reporting, but it was still deep shit. These youngsters don’t know how good they got it, strolling through puddles of harsh language for fucking up on the job. Kids these days.
waratah
@Tom Hilton: I loved that too.
Suffern ACE
@fasteddie9318: It’s just a few bad apples. Why does the White House browbeat specific reporters? Try to figure out which ones are “friends and foes”? Browbeating specific reporters is the same as punishing them all. It’s just like collective punishment with the only minor difference being that it is directed at specific individuals.
Bulworth
Yes, that and making sure they’re invited to the barbeque to play on the tire swings.
handy
I think they miss Scotty Too Hotty McClellan and his flop sweat.
Villago Delenda Est
@Suffern ACE:
So, Dan Rather, CBS News White House Correspondent, asks Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States, a question at a press conference.
Nixon: “Dan, are you running for something?”
Rather: “No, are you, Mr. President?”
Davis X. Machina
Is that the graph for the WH Press’s various blogs? All blogs? Or just the comments at Digby’s?
daveNYC
So it’s established that the White House reporters are all a bunch of milk drinkers?
slag
@Bulworth: Curse you. I just got a sudden craving for a donut with sprinkles. And I know that one’s going to stay with me for the entire day.
Donut
@efgoldman:
Sorry, ef, but your age and your memory notwithstanding (said with all due respect), historically, for every one example you provide of true, consistent, balanced, fact-based reporting, there are 500 that are just the same as it ever was. That era in TV and print news in the United States was a brief outlier; a complete anomaly.
A free press is by definition completely biased and in its normal state, hyperbolic and loaded with propaganda.
I am glad that Left-Blogistan has responded to the current state of media the way it has in the last few years – – but that said, I wish we liberals, progressives, Democrats, whatever you fucking call yourselves, would get the fuck over this, live with the world we have, and keep creating and re-creating our own media sources.
Churchlady
@amk: amk – thank you for reminding us that yes, many of them ARE Fifth Columnists. For those too young to know the term, Google it. It’s important.
dead existentialist
@slag: Look down at the next comment. It’s a Festivus miracle!
MikeJ
Time to show them what Jack Anderson dealt with. A few strongly worded emails won’t seem so bad.
Satanicpanic
Awww, poor little feller
Admiral_Komack
@Villago Delenda Est:
Expression: “Fuck Them.”
Admiral_Komack
@JGabriel:
Well, those Presidents were white and…the sheriff is near.
slag
@dead existentialist: Ha! That’ll teach all those non-believers!
The Moar You Know
KILL ‘EM ALL (h/t Metallica)
Merry Christmas, fuckers. See you in 2012.
Culture of Truth
*SNORT*
MikeJ
@Culture of Truth: The first /b/tard administration?
Culture of Truth
But I thought oceans protected us!
bemused
@4tehlulz:
Good one.
Jim C
Jay Carney knows how to slap these folk about because he used to be one of them.
I’m old enough in internet-years to remember Carney’s mocking dismissal of Josh Marshal and TPM’s investigation into the political sackings of US Attorneys. It took two months for him to finally own up that he was full of cocktail weenies.
Culture of Truth
Indeed, in this case it truly takes one to know one.
daveNYC
@Culture of Truth: No joke. If the concept of the President’s team seeing the news in London and then shooting off nasty emails somehow confuses these reporters, then they’re working in the wrong century.
ChrisNYC
@Jim C: Not sure how that is at all damning. First, he owned up and did so in a really straightforward way. Even here on this very blog, what passes for owning up is usually more, “Here’s why I was sort of wrong but really right in the long view, now that I have thought of a different rationalization.” Second, two months is a long time? I’ll take Carney over the rest of them.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
OMG, that’s hilarious. No wonder the courtiers are all hissing at Obama.
Satanicpanic
@efgoldman: It’s like all the Wall St CEO’s and their whining. If they wanted to be heroes they should have got jobs as firefighters. They’ll just have to be satisfied with being overpaid for doing pointless work. Boo hoo.
tomvox1
Did you read this guy Farhi’s other featured pieces?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/paul-farhi/2011/03/08/ABO2YCP_page.html
Beltway stenography at its finest. Favorite block from his “take” on the American Muslim/Lowes controversy entitled Reality TV catches up to reality with Muslim show:
You can really see why this guy gets the big bucks and his own byline in the WaPo, can’t you?
Jim C
@ChrisNYC: Oh, I know it’s not particularly damning. But he was right there playing the fool instead of just doing his homework – his knee-jerk reaction made him a Dewar’s Profile of Beltwayism at the time.
What I took from his takeaway, coupled with what he’s doing now, is that he took a cuff to the shorts and knows just how to deliver a good one.
Napoleon
@daveNYC:
Hey, Ben Franklin never did that when he was in Paris, so why should BO’s people now?
FlipYrWhig
@JGabriel:
Try harder.
dadanarchist
My main grievance is that most of our wonderful media, as yet, have not been fucked with a “spiky acid-tipped dick.“
Frankensteinbeck
It’s true that yellow journalism has a long and inglorious history, but we’re in an odd place. The news still claims the mantle of a brief period of Hard Hitting Journalism, even believes they still deserve it. The general public is rapidly losing faith, but believes that’s the default. I don’t have to tell anyone here how this contrasts with the actual reporting being done.
Admiral_Komack
@Suffern ACE:
“Why does the White House browbeat specific reporters?”
Because they deserve it.
El Cid
If only Obama’s White House press crew could live up to the honorable standards of the Bush Jr. administration.
Ksmiami
Hmm my take on the white house stenographers… Who needs em when I can go direct to kthug or brad delong
Geeno
If I were the WH press secretary, before every press conference I would give the reporters the most recent GOP talking points press release, and if you ask a question from that page, you lose your press credentials.
Answers to that would be posted on WH.gov by the end of the conference, if not in the handout.
Liberty60
“They shoot first and ask questions later”
Sighs wistfully.
Bill Murray
@Napoleon: Really if they think it’s bad now, they should check out American Aurora — Franklin’s grandson Ben Franklin “lightning Rd, Jr.” Bache was running a Dem-Rep paper that Adams brought about the Alien and Sedition Acts to counteract.
Bill Murray
@JGabriel:
yeah, big time, as Cheney said to Bush about NYT reporter Adam Clymer
Southern Beale
I suppose the Obama White House can do like the Bush White House did: just create their own partisan media and give the only interviews and access to them. Everyone else can be left out in the cold.
That would be funny.
AxelFoley
They just don’t understand that the Obama Administration is NOT like Democrats of old–they take the fight back to their assailants. Dems like Clinton, Gore, and Kerry let the GOPdia define them and slur them. PBO and his people will dropkick a fool with a quickness.
Kathy in St. Louis