Helen Thomas: “It's shocking. It's really shocking.”

[kitkat]

Helen Thomas: "The point is the control-- We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some, but not-- This White House. I'm amazed. I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and—It's shocking. It's really shocking. It's a pattern of controlling the press. Your formal engagements are pre-packaged. By calling reporters the night before to tell them they're going to be called on. That is shocking."--addressed to Robert Gibbs at the July 1st WH press conference.

After the press conference, Thomas had some further comments:

“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try.

“What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.”

Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer from the liberal Huffington Post Web site. The writer was invited by the White House to President Obama’s press conference last week on the understanding that he would ask Obama a question about Iran from among questions that had been sent to him by people in Iran.

“When you call the reporter (Huffington Post) the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you,” Thomas said.

“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well--for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”--CNS news interview


The libs positively celebrated Helen Thomas back when Bush was her target...now? Not so much... Ana Marie Cox (who often appears in eyelid batting contests with Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show--) had the following comment on this:

" I may get struck down for saying this, but I think that exchange should put to rest the idea that Helen is some kind of symbol of speaking truth to power. She is, in the end, just another mainstream media reporter. I think her seat in the briefing room could probably be put to better use by, say, the Huffington Post."

[MontereyDave]

Originally Posted by kitkat

...

The libs positively celebrated Helen Thomas back when Bush was her target...now? Not so much... ...

Excellent thread!

Absolutely, and the hypocricy of bi-partisan politics is and has been so divisive and detrimental to the difficult solutions for a post 9/11 era.

[Fun Crusher]

I love that lady.

[ped]

liberal media attacking a real american again huh guys!

[baldheadeddork]

Originally Posted by kitkat

Helen Thomas: "The point is the control-- We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some, but not-- This White House. I'm amazed. I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and—It's shocking. It's really shocking. It's a pattern of controlling the press. Your formal engagements are pre-packaged. By calling reporters the night before to tell them they're going to be called on. That is shocking."--addressed to Robert Gibbs at the July 1st WH press conference.

After the press conference, Thomas had some further comments:

“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try.

“What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.”

Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer from the liberal Huffington Post Web site. The writer was invited by the White House to President Obama’s press conference last week on the understanding that he would ask Obama a question about Iran from among questions that had been sent to him by people in Iran.

“When you call the reporter (Huffington Post) the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you,” Thomas said.

“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well--for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”--CNS news interview


The libs positively celebrated Helen Thomas back when Bush was her target...now? Not so much... Ana Marie Cox (who often appears in eyelid batting contests with Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show--) had the following comment on this:

" I may get struck down for saying this, but I think that exchange should put to rest the idea that Helen is some kind of symbol of speaking truth to power. She is, in the end, just another mainstream media reporter. I think her seat in the briefing room could probably be put to better use by, say, the Huffington Post."

Kat, you really are a wingnut? Knock me over with a feather.

(If you don't want to click on the link, she cribbed most of her post from the Conservative News Service - motto: "The 'Right' News. Right Now.")

C'mon Kat, fess up. This really is you, isn't it?

About what passes for a story in this post, Helen Thomas is wrong on this. Not just on opinion of what happened, but factually wrong. The White House did know that Nico Pitney would have a questions from Iranians on the ground, and they put him in the press conference so he could ask the question. But they did not know what the question would be. If this was scripted, Obama's answer would have been a hell of a lot more polished. The questions Pitney asked were not softballs, in fact Pitney's were clearly the most difficult and uncomfortable questions for Obama to answer.

The only management of the press was giving a seat to a blog reporter who would ask a question about Iran, which should have described every reporter in the room, and that Obama was using Pitney as a conduit to have a direct conversation with the Iranian people. There was nothing stopping any reporter in the room from doing that. Had Helen Thomas or Chuck Todd used their resources to get a question from an Iranian they would have done the same thing, and they would have been called on, too. But they chose to use their opportunities for the kind of bullshit questions about inside DC politics that tend to make up 95% of the questions in the WH press room. In the oldest rule of journalism, they got beat on a story by a reporter who was showing more initiative.

Being a reporter in the White House press corps has been compared to a gilded cage. On the good side, you're guaranteed to get on the air in the first segment or make the front page every single day. The bad news is, you're nothing more than a glorified stenographer. You write down what the press secretary or president says, you put it together with what comes from your Capitol Hill, Pentagon or State Department reporter, you talk to the political opponents of whatever is in the news that day, and you file your story. There is almost no real reporting that comes out of the WH press corps and that's been true for decades. A lot of people want to talk to you, but only because you're their conduit to the front page or the first segment on the nightly news. Even if you have the desire to do original reporting, you don't have the time because you've got to put a story together about what everyone said for deadline every day.

That's the most generous view of the WH press. The other side, just as true, is this is a kingdom of fifty egos that do not like to share their access. The WH has to invite bloggers to press conferences and put them on the daily guest list for briefings because the WH Correspondents Association refuses to issue the credentials that would give them access. The same is true in Congress, where even bloggers with backgrounds as academics and historians on Congress are barred from the press gallery or from getting the press credentials that allow easier access to members of Congress. These same lions of the press corps threw a shit fit earlier this year when Obama called on bloggers during a prime-time press conference - while the reporter for the Washington Post asked the president what he thought about A-Rod taking steroids.

Think about all of the stories that the DC press corps has blown in the last ten years. When have you ever heard Helen Thomas bitch about her non-blogger colleagues totally missing those stories. But Obama asks a blogger to ask a question from an Iranian, and that's shameful.

Anna Marie Cox is right.

[LDS]

LOL!! The partisan hack puppets are turning on her. How predictable. How dare she commit heresy against The Holybama!

You dumbasses really need to look beyond the R or D and see the man behind the curtain.

You'll be amazed at what you see...

But, alas, it will never happen. It's like asking soccer hooligans to appreciate the other team.

[timd99]

Originally Posted by LDS

But, alas, it will never happen. It's like asking soccer Moms to appreciate the other team.

FTFY, with all due respect.

[baldheadeddork]

I wonder if Helen is hanging her head in shame over this: Washington Post abandons plans to sell meetings with Post reporters and political leaders.

Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

With the Post newsroom in an uproar after POLITICO reported the solicitation, Weymouth said in an email to the staff that "a flier went out that was prepared by the Marketing department and was never vetted by me or by the newsroom. Had it been, the flier would have been immediately killed, because it completely misrepresented what we were trying to do."

Weymouth said the paper had planned a series of dinners with participation from the newsroom “but with parameters such that we did not in any way compromise our integrity. Sponsorship of events, like advertising in the newspaper, must be at arm's length and cannot imply control over the content or access to our journalists. At this juncture, we will not be holding the planned July dinner and we will not hold salon dinners involving the newsroom. “

Here's how the flyer made it clear the Post wasn't offering control over content or access to journalists.

"Underwriting Opportunity: An evening with the right people can alter the debate," says the one-page flier. "Underwrite and participate in this intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth. ... Bring your organization’s CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama administration and congressional leaders."

The flier promised the dinner would be held in an intimate setting with no unseemly conflict between participants. “Spirited? Yes. Confrontational? No,” it said. “The relaxed setting in the home of Katharine Weymouth assures it. What is guaranteed is a collegial evening, with Obama administration officials, Congress members, business leaders, advocacy leaders and other select minds typically on the guest list of 20 or less. …

[kitkat]

Originally Posted by baldheadeddork

Anna Marie Cox is right.

The Thomas quotes re; Gibbs I printed are taken directly from the video of the exchange. The post event interview is what is sourced from CNS news. If & when she complains she was misquoted by their reporter is when i will discount the accuracy of their reportage. Even partisan hacks can get a quote right--digital recorders are pretty standard equipment these days after all.

You have little credibility left dude. When this woman was criticizing Bush & co, you and the rest of the libbys were right on board with her. Christ, she is like a regular guest on Air America...and has been for years now, a regular lib heroine of the WH press. But oh shit oh dear, see what happens when she dares say THIS emperor wears no clothes!! Shunned like a strayed JW. Thanks for proving you are as blinkered as any other variety of ideologue.

I got this for you: "What is good for the goose is good for the gander." The Bush admin sucked for their contrived PR choreography and so does the Obama admin when they do the same. As is becoming more & more common, and less and less credible in repudiation, his admin just keeps taking page after page from the ol' Bushco playbook. Only their sycophants remain oblivious to that fact. Regular NY Yankees fans from 1999 I swear...

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Methinks somebody is really, really butt-hurt over Hillary losing the nomination. Still.

Hillary Clinton would have made a good president I'm sure, KK, and if she would have been the Democratic nominee, I would have voted for her. But she wasn't, I didn't, and she's not president. Secretary of State ain't bad, tho...

All this constant harping on every possible criticism of Obama isn't gonna change anything, KK. You're getting quite shrill and tiresome, and now you're even clutching at rightwanker straws like the other sore losers in order to vent your frustration. Is this gonna be your MO for the next 3 1/2 years?

I wonder, would your intense bitterness actually cause you to vote against your own principals in 2012 and pull the lever for Sarah Palin, simply out of spite?

You didn't vote for McCain, didja?

[BDFINALLY]

With all due respect to Helen Thomas, this looks like pushback in a turf battle to me.

[BigBadBoom]

I like Helen Thomas. I have a lot of respect for her and her opinion but she is wrong on this one.

BHD is absolutely right in his assessment that Nico Pitney's question was the toughest of that press conference. Obama did not know what question was going to be asked but knew that the HuffPo had been blogging with Iranians during this whole mess. They had the contacts. They were aware of what an Iranian would ask. Quite simply the HuffPo scooped them all.

Obama, from what I saw, had no idea what the question would be and to be honest I thought it knocked him of balance a tad when he heard it. His answer could not have been prepared.

For his part Obama was quite savvy to use Nico and the HuffPo to speak directly to the Iranian people.

To be brutally honest; why shouldn't' the HuffPo or Politico have a regular seat in these press conferences? The two the times I have seen them called on have had the most relevant and pointed questions.

[flylooper]

Originally Posted by BigBadBoom

To be brutally honest; why shouldn't' the HuffPo or Politico have a regular seat in these press conferences? The two the times I have seen them called on have had the most relevant and pointed questions.

+1. Some of these "blogs" are gaining-have gained-considerable legitimacy. In fact, I think the term blog is somewhat disparaging.

The WH press corps is exactly as BHD describes them. They are captive secretaries. Pretty good gig if you like martinis, french food, and that famous once a year gathering where everyone puts a tux on and listens to the Prez do his jokes at their expense. (Of course, it's gotten so that not to be mentioned by the Prez is his remarks is a sign of lack of clout.) Steven Colbert set that bar so high no one will ever equal that famous night.

Thomas? Much as I've admired her, the fact is she's 89 years old. She's not the person she was even 10 or 20 years ago.

[636blurr]

And as usual the fairy fucking liberals flock to their messiah to save him.

what a bunch of pathetic fuckers.

[BigBadBoom]

Originally Posted by flylooper

+1. Some of these "blogs" are gaining-have gained-considerable legitimacy. In fact, I think the term blog is somewhat disparaging.

The WH press corps is exactly as BHD describes them. They are captive secretaries. Pretty good gig if you like martinis, french food, and that famous once a year gathering where everyone puts a tux on and listens to the Prez do his jokes at their expense. (Of course, it's gotten so that not to be mentioned by the Prez is his remarks is a sign of lack of clout.) Steven Colbert set that bar so high no one will ever equal that famous night.

Extending that idea why not also invite a non-loony, right leaning blogger from a conservative site? Although I am hard pressed to name one I would like to see them throw questions at Obama if only for him to completely dispel the rumor du jour dealing with topic at hand on the national stage.

With the HuffPo being decidedly left leaning and POLITICO being centrist it would be needed to invite a right leaning blogger to kill any notion of hiding from hard questions.