Guardian Article on Gannongate and US Media in General
Here is a good article by the Guardian, a British publication on the Gannon/Guckert affair and the state of media in the US in general. Of course, many people in the US don't give shit about the way anyone else in the world sees anything, so they won't read the article. I found it to be quite interesting. An excerpt:
The Gannon case is a prime illustration. If, during the Clinton administration, a fake reporter from a Democrat front organisation, using a false name, had been exposed as attending White House press conferences it would have been a national scandal. If he had then been shown to be a gay prostitute, the scandal could have threatened a Democrat presidency. With 'Gannon' and Bush there has been no such outcry. The mainstream media has approached the story warily, while right-wing organisations such as Fox News have largely ignored it.
Here's the rest of the article.
posted by Cori at 12:15 AM
3 Comments:
I wouldn't call any of the folks attending White House press meets jounalists. We don't produce journalists in this country. They all work for corporations and are driven by profit.
Here we see the Republican damage control strategy at work, dutifully deployed by a couple of loyal drones, Eye Doc and Gary B –
Eye Doc completely ignores the salient points to this matter:
1)He was not even an obscure journalist – he was a fake journalist! He took one $50 half-day course on how to disseminate Republican talking points. The fact that he worked first for GOPusa and then Talon News – a fake Republican Web zine is part of the story. How does a fake journalist get into daily White House press briefings for 2 YEARS?
2)He apparently did not undergo any background check, which is standard procedure for the White House press corps. Apparently, there was some kind of work around, where he got a DAILY PASS for TWO YEARS. Even for a daily pass, you have to submit a social security number, which would not have matched the name “Jeff Gannon.” Somebody in the White House told somebody not to do a background check on this guy. If they had, they would have found out about his other career, and his tax trouble.
3)It is not about his private life – it is about his public, illegal life, posted in the Internet advertising his services as an “escort”. Being a prostitute is illegal and advertising your services on the Web is very public.
4)The sexual orientation issue is not a case of Democratic hypocrisy; it is a case of hypocrisy on the part of Gannon/Guckert himself – who wrote virulently anti-gay articles for Talon News, while at the same time being a male prostitute who serviced men. It is also hypocrisy on the part of the White House for being very anti-gay, yet acting using gays for their ends when it suits them.
5)He was an inside plant by the White House who lobbed softball questions at McClellan and Bush.
The damage control strategy by the Republicans is using a couple of tactics. First, claiming that Guckert’s private life was invaded, when actually it was a very public life, posted on the Internet for all to see. Second, downplaying the story, “Oh it’s nothing, some nobody got in to press briefings for two years, happens all the time.” Bullshit! Third, “Democrats are hypocrites!” And for those who can’t keep this straight, there is the zombie mantra – “Democrats control the entire mainstream media!” which is complete nonsense, to anyone who has been paying attention.
How does a character like this get this kind of access from the most secretive White House in modern history? He just wandered in? He knew somebody.
Exactly. He claims to have submitted his real name to the Secret Service, but apparently he submitted his fake one to the Standing Committee of Correspondents. He claims "Jeff Gannon" is "easier to pronounce than "James Guckert." True as far as Guckert goes, but as some reporter friends of mine have pointed out, it's unheard of for print journalists to use pseudonyms. And Guckert, oddly enough, was using the much-easier-to-pronounce "Jeff" in 1999, when he was making gay porn sites--long before he joined GOPUSA/Talon. If you want to read some reporters' views on the whole mess, I have them at www.realitique.com
Post a Comment
<< Home