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From mullentown:

One haunting component of the Libby trial for me came early in the process, when Cheney aides testified how they sorted through the Washington press corps for the most malleable and sympathetic reporters with which to plant their tips and stories.

I know that is the way it works in the adversarial relationship between government and the press, but it’s an ugly indictment against reporters. If nothing else, this is another warning to people in my profession at every level to re-examine their reasons for doing journalism. It’s not for fame, or for Sunday TV talk shows, or to land another book deal.

Our job remains to find the truth - or the closest to it we can come. If that sounds melodramatic, fine. It’s the nearest I can come to patriotism. And I can’t come up with a better definition of a free press.

Good thoughts. Inspirational, almost. For the record, we're not crafty enough for this sort of manipulation and we don’t think our press corp would fall for it. We expect reporters to tell the truth about the Senate. Most of them do a good job. We usually come out okay.

6 Comments:

 Anonymous said...

So what part of the statement "Cheney aides testified how they sorted through the Washington press corps for the most malleable and sympathetic reporters with which to plant their tips and stories" do you evidently object to? I realize you're protective of and referring to the Utah Senate, but what exactly does that have to do with her statement regarding the Washington (D.C.) press corps? Did you see Britt Hume on FOX News yesterday, talking about the Libby verdict, with the caption that said "Scooter Libby Found Not Guilty Of Lying to FBI Investigators". Get it? He was found GUILTY of FOUR out of FIVE counts, but the right-wing spin machine reports it upside-down. Have you never heard of Jeff Gannon? His story is definitely not PG-13 so I won't recount it here, but please try and think outside the Utah box...there's a great big wide world out there, and it ain't pretty. This is what Mullen is talking about.

3/07/2007 4:41 PM  

 Todd said...

"For the record, we're not crafty enough for this sort of manipulation and we don’t think our press corp would fall for it."

Panderer. Fabulous.

I expect better denials from professional political spokespeople.

3/07/2007 5:05 PM  

 The Senate Site said...

Anonymous #1:

Interesting. Our impression was that Holly Mullen was discussing reporters' responsibility to seek the truth and not be manipulated by government operatives. Inside the Utah box or out.

We didn’t object to a bit of what Mullen said. We thought it was worth repeating.

3/07/2007 5:25 PM  

 The Senate Site said...

Anonymous #2:

Don't know what to tell you. Don't think you'd believe it anyway.

3/07/2007 5:32 PM  

 Anonymous said...

We suggest you go back and read her article again. It was actually a tribute to the American judicial system, specifically how a panel of normal, average Americans could wade through all the noise and spin associated with this case (originating with the government and its favored "journalists") and come to the logical, right decision.

For the record, much the same situation occurs here. The Deseret Morning News does little more than praise everything that comes out of the Utah Legislature.

3/08/2007 8:04 AM  

 The Senate Site said...

Yeah right. Don't even get me started.

But you are correct that Holly's article is primarily about Jurors. It's worth a read. We were zooming in on the "Haunting Component" right at the end - the part we quoted.

3/08/2007 10:45 AM  

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