Go get him, Christians! 'Bout frocking time, too.
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Bush administration blurs media boundary
Controversy over a 'journalist' adds to the buzz about message control
in capital.
By Gail Russell Chaddock
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0217/p01s01-uspo.html
First came video "news releases" produced by the Bush administration
using a TV news format. Then came three conservative columnists who got
big paychecks from federal agencies. Now, there's Jeff Gannon (not his
real name), a journalist (maybe) who gained surprisingly easy access to
the president, only to lob a sympathetically slanted question.
No evidence has surfaced that Mr. Gannon was directed by the White
House, but the circumstances ignited a debate over the inner workings
of the White House press room.
Presidents from George Washington on down have struggled with a news
corps viewed as hostile. And in the age of television, the art of
message management has been increasingly vital to the modern
presidency.
But taken together, these recent controversies suggest that the Bush
administration may be pushing that craft into new territory - and
testing the limits of presidential public relations.
"The public has a reason to be concerned about the ways in which
political manipulation is influencing journalism," says Larry Gross at
the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern
California.
Of course, the line between salesmanship and manipulation can be
blurry. The White House's ability to stay "on message" has won respect
even from its critics, albeit grudgingly. At the same time, other moves
by the administration have raised concern.
In January came news that commentator Armstrong Williams, a syndicated
broadcast host, had received a $240,000 payment from the Education
Department to promote the No Child Left Behind Act. On a lesser scale,
commentators Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus were paid $21,500 and
$10,200, respectively, to advise the Department of Health and Human
Services on its marriage initiatives. Unlike Williams, neither were
paid explicitly to promote White House policy in their columns.
A 2004 video produced by the Health and Human Services Department to
promote the administration's new Medicare prescription drug law ended
with the tagline in journalese: "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan
reporting."
A number of local TV stations aired this spot and others produced by
federal agencies, without disclosing their source.
Last May, the General Accounting Office ruled that the prepackaged news
report segment violated a law prohibiting the use of federal funds for
propaganda because it did not identify the government as the source of
the news report.
It is unclear whether such activities occurred with any sanction from
within the White House. In the wake of the publicity about Mr.
Williams, President Bush has disavowed the practice of paying
journalists. "All our Cabinet secretaries must realize that we will not
be paying ... commentators to advance our agenda," he said. The Federal
Communications Commission is investigating the payment to Williams.
Still, the climate of the administration has been one of growing public
relations initiatives. Since President Bush took office, contracts for
public relations work with the federal government have jumped from $39
million to $88.2 million last year, according to a report by Democratic
staff of the House Government Reform Committee. These contracts cover
everything from promoting the newly revised food pyramid to funding
major initiatives from schools to Social Security.
The Bush administration isn't the first to pay journalists to promote
their causes. President Jefferson hired journalist James Callender to
attack his rival John Adams, only to have Callender later turn on him
with reports that he had fathered a child with his slave, Sally
Hemings.
The classic presidential tack for managing the news is to shut off
access to journalists. Deeply frustrated by the coverage of the
Watergate scandal, President Nixon directed his staff to ban any
representative from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time
Magazine, Newsweek, CBS, and a UPI reporter from the press pool - an
order his staff largely ignored. But during the 2004 campaign, a New
York Times reporter assigned to cover Vice President Cheney was
routinely excluded from the press plane.
And adversarial relations with the media aren't limited to Washington,
D.C. In Maryland, a federal judge ruled Monday that Gov. Robert Ehrlich
(R) can bar state employees from talking to two reporters for the
Baltimore Sun - a move described by Sun editors as "scary."
While such actions rankle the press, they don't always disturb the
public.
"Over the past several years, the Bush administration has learned that
it can engage the press in an adversarial way, and the public won't
mind. It's yet another step in managed news," says Tom Hollihan,
another journalism expert at USC's Annenberg School.
These include screening the people who attend meetings that appear to
have a town-hall format, and bypassing the national media to go
directly to local media where, he says, "there are more softball
questions."
In a preemptive move last month, senior House Democrats called on the
White House to halt "use of propaganda" to push the president's plan to
create private or personal accounts in Social Security. Democrats are
requesting all materials created for radio, TV, or newspapers and other
venues to promote the plan.
"There is a pattern of propaganda by the Bush administration that must
be stopped," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
The Gannon case raises the tougher question of who gets to be a
journalist. In Washington, credentialing standards vary among the
different branches of government. Gannon, who wrote for the GOP-linked
Talon News website, was first criticized by liberal Internet bloggers,
who objected to the pro-administration slant in his questions, such as
"...How are you going to work with [Democrats] who seem to have
divorced themselves from reality?"
Turned down for a congressional press pass because he did not meet the
standards set for a journalist, James Guckert (Gannon's real name) has
had access to the White House briefing room for more than two years on
day passes. "Many seasoned journalists have not had the honor of
attending the events or enjoying the access Mr. Guckert has," said Rep.
Louise Slaughter (D) of New York. This week she asked for release of
information on Gannon's credentialing.
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