Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
Our fearless leader (aka, Rob Long) has many favorite sayings, but none is more famous than "Skin in the Game." Ya got have skin.
But what happens when you have too much in the game, especially if you represent yourself to the public as a journalist whose first loyalty is supposed to be to the truth?
Earlier this month, Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz crashed a local Tea Party event near her home in Avon, Ohio. One of the featured speakers was Josh Mandel, the State Treasurer and the front-runner for the GOP Senate nomination next year. Also in attendance was a Democratic operative whom Ms. Schultz obviously recognized, because when the operative began taping Mr. Mandel's remarks he was asked to leave. And because he was asked to leave, Connie took over his assignment. You see, the operative worked for Connie's husband, US Senator Sherrod Brown. If Josh Mandel was going to pull a George Allen, Connie wanted it on tape.
After a local blogger wrote about the incident, Connie Schultz was forced to resign. In a moment of pure candor, Plain Dealer Editor Debra Adams Simmons praised Schultz with all the liberal code phrases she could find, from "her steadfast commitment to social and economic justice" to the tried and true "efforts to speak truth to power."
But are you speaking truth to power when you're sleeping with it at night? When you hear that such and such reporter has a certain powerful person's ear, you have to ask what other piece of their anatomy do they have and does it get in the way of the truth?
| Reporter | Employer | Politico | Position |
| Claire Shipman | ABC News | Jay Carney | White House Spokesman |
| Christiane Amanpour | ABC News | James Rubin | Clinton State Department |
| Rita Braver | CBS News | Robert B. Barnett | Lawyer, Dem. Debate coach |
| Todd Purdum | Editor, Vanity Fair | Dee Dee Myers | Clinton Spokesperson |
| Ron Brownstein | Los Angeles Times | Eileen McMenamin | Spokesperson, McCain '08 |
| Andrea Mitchell | NBC News | Alan Greenspan | Fmr. Chairman, Federal Reserve |
| David Gregory | NBC News | Beth Wilkinson | General Counsel for Fannie Mae |
| Chuck Todd | NBC News | Kristian Denny Todd | Democratic Strategist |
| Campbell Brown | NBC News | Dan Senor | Bush 43 aide |
| Michelle Norris | NPR | Broderick Johnson | Adviser to Kerry, Obama |
| Judith Miller | NY Times | Les Aspin (deceased) | Congressman, SecDef |
| Matthew Cooper | The Atlantic (Fmr. Time) | Mandy Grunwald | Dem. Media Consultant |
| John Dickerson | Time | Anne Dickerson | Rep. Political Consultant |
| Walter Pincus | Washington Post | Ann Terry Pincus | Dir., Office of Research USIA |
Then there are other less obvious conflicts of interest. Like the fact that ABC News President Ben Sherwood has a sister who is a Special Adviser to President Obama. (ABC seems to lead the world in training people for the Obama Administration as former employees Linda Douglass, David Ensor and Geoff Morrell have all taken paychecks from the current Administration. And they are nice place to land, too. Just ask George Stephanopoulos, or Mario Cuomo's son, Chris.) When the Washington Post's Dana Milbank writes about banking does he mention his wife was a Product Manager for CitiBank? Or that she currently works for Experian, a credit bureau that has access to the credit records of 215 million Americans?
Do spouses and other relatives deserve to live their own lives? Sure. But it might make for a lot of interesting talk around the dinner table and the bedroom, too.
Addendum: On the above list Judith Miller no longer works for The Times. But she did cover politics when the late Les Aspin was Clinton's Defense Secretary. And Mr. Milbank's wife worked for Citi when he was a reporter covering finance for the Wall Street Journal.
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Comments :
Sep '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
Awesome post EJ! This should get national attention. I've known about some of these relationships but not all, and put together like this it is damning.
Sep '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
There is a relationship between journalism and truth? It has never occurred to me that there was. Journalists are self-interested people who do what they regard as best for themselves. They like to portray themselves otherwise, which is in their best interest.
Sep '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
Great reporting, EJ! OMG, when I was a reporter there was no way the editorial page editor or the city editor would have praised a reporter for her "steadfast commitment to social and economic justice" and her "efforts to speak truth to power." Reporting has been destroyed by Watergate wannabees and their corporate/political party enablers. Which is why I think bias is so much more problematic than even some folks on Ricochet think.
Dec '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
So what you're saying is that anyone good looking enough to work at Fox doesn't have to marry beneath them into politics?
May '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
I don't know, but then again neither Carl Cameron or David Asman never did that much for me.
Feb '11
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
C'mon EJ, you know that journalists will always be 'speaking truth to power' (or ' cranking the liberal spin machine') as long as there is any perceived threat to their, well, power.
Actually, I have a theory on this. Since the Democratic party hails from the pedigree of Jeffersonian anti-bank agrarianism, Jacksonian populism and, yes, slave power with it's massive infiriority complex, it will always see itself as the underdog, the proletariat; even if they were to completely control, oh, two whole branches of the gov. They will always be fighting the evil banks or industrial revolutionists of the Federalists, Whigs or Republicans.
May '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
I do a unit on the Media and the Government for my US Government class. In it, I cite Peter Jennings longtime penchant for the "plight of the Palestinians." I didn't know until years after his passing of his past relationship with Palestinian spokesperson Hanan Ashwari. If you included the "close relationships", not just marriages, it's worse than you think...
Jan '11
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
What strikes me about journalists and political operatives is how similar their jobs must be, since they slide in and out with nary a ripple. The same skills are prominent in marketing and advertising.
In all theaters, I guess, the skill is the ability to sell.
That's why I can't take many of these people seriously. They are so transparently selling. I doubt they know the difference between selling and analysis. George Stephanopoulos' analysis is always about the marketing of politics. He always discusses the optics, the sales job, the sales challenge ... and rarely discusses the actual likelihood that any proposal will fix the problem.
Want to see a mainstream journalist squirm? Ask him about how an Obama plan will create jobs. The answer (as Professor Epstein explains clearly) is that the plan can't possibly make a dent. But mainstream journalists won't say that ... instead, they'll rattle on about the sales plan.
May '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
There's a difference between reporting on a policy and reporting on the politics. Both sides lie and smudge so it's always more interesting to report on the politics. That and nobody holds bar bets or pools on policy results.
The point here is that there are too many people with emotional and financial ties to the politics they cover. Why believe what Chuck Todd says when his wife's fortunes rise and fall with the success of the Democrats?
Jan '11
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
Except that's what the reporting is supposed to be about. Reporting carries weight when it discusses what actually happened, not so much when it speculates on what might happen. (Heck, I can do that.)
Did the prescription drug program work? Save money? or what? How about the bailouts of Chrysler and GM? These are actual events that should be analyzed and presented. And if they succeed or fail, why or why not? That's what will give voters an insight on what to do next time, or whether similar policies will work elsewhere. That's where journalism pays off.
That has a lot more relevance than what fellow journalists are debating around the White House coffee stand. I've seen some, but comparatively little reporting of it.
May '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
A couple of thoughts to chew on:
Just about everything in politics is economic in nature. And since economics is more art than science and sometimes borders on a faith, even economists don't have a firm grip on the subject. The overwhelming majority of journalists (and all citizens) are economically illiterate so it's easier to tell the horse-race of politics.
These days, journalism and politics, are not seen as jobs, but as professions on par with doctors and lawyers. But both are totally unregulated and unlicensed. Your local barber is more licensed and regulated than any journalist. For a journo all you have to do is get hired.
I, of course, don't advocate the government "licensing" the press. But I wish the journalistic organizations would stop hiring writers and hire specialists who know how to write.
Edited on Sep 27, 2011 at 9:35pmMay '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
The American press by and large is the Praetorian Guard of the Democratic party.
Jan '11
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
EJHill A couple of thoughts to chew on:
The overwhelming majority of journalists (and all citizens) are economically illiterate so it's easier to tell the horse-race of politics.
But I wish the journalistic organizations would stop hiring writers and hire specialists who know how to write.
Agreed. I'm no economic expert (even my bill statements can attest to this), but I do enjoy writers who can actually explain things coherently. That's why, when I come across reporting that's little more than intra-press gossip, I feel cheated.
Feb '11
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
Connie Schultz had an interview with Howard Kurtz where she denies any wrongdoing. In fairness, she was apparently a columnist rather than a reporter which usually changes the objectivity standard a bit.
I don't mind members of the press having opinions and biases. We can't have robots as journalists. I think (as I think Tim Groseclose said in his interview with Peter) that we need to have disclosure. These reporters should mention the connection each time they report on something related.
May '10
Re: Politics, Journalism and the Wedding Bed
Columnist or not, she crossed the line. Just as George Will admitted that he crossed the line when he helped Reagan in debate prep.