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:: 2.03.2005 ::
Favorite White House correspondent a plant? "In many cases I have liberally used the verbiage provided on key aspects of the issue because it is the precise expression of where the White House stands -- free of any 'spin.' It's the ultimate in journalistic honesty -- unvarnished and unfiltered. If only others would be as forthcoming." That's a quote from Jeff Gannon, who calls himself the White House correspondent for TalonNews.com ("committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news coverage to our readers.") The website is operated by a Texas-based Republican Party delegate and political activist who also runs GOPUSA.com.
Hm.
He comes in every day on a daily pass, which "may be issued to anyone who writes for an organization that publishes regularly and who is cleared to enter the building," according to Press Secretary Scott McClellan. Fine. But McClellan and Bush both call on Gannon frequently during press conferences and his questions tend to be softballs at best, or wildly titled to the right at worst. Take this gem, from a January 26th press conference with Bush:"Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the US economy," Gannon said. "[Minority Leader] Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"
As it turned out, Reid had never talked about soup lines. That was a phrase attributed to him in satire by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show. More in the Boston Globe.
Followup
Jeff Gannon isn't even the guy's real name - it's James Guckert. He wasn't able to obtain House or Senate press gallery credentials in 2003 because he couldn't demonstrate separation between Talon and GOPUSA.com. This is only the most recent in a string of White House propoganda revelations. More on CNN.
:: Deb 3:32 PM :: permalink ::
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