Saturday, February 19, 2005
You Too Can be a "Reporter."
From CNN comes the transcript of Jeff Gannon (or whatever his name really is) being interviewed by Anderson Cooper:
From CNN comes the transcript of Jeff Gannon (or whatever his name really is) being interviewed by Anderson Cooper:
GANNON: All my stories were usually titled 'White House Says,' 'President Bush Wants,' and I relied on transcripts from the briefings, I relied on press releases that were sent to the press for the purpose of accurately portraying what the White House believed or wanted.So there you have it. Repeating White House talking points word for word is now "reporting;" which is technically correct in one sense of the word, but..... Now, does anyone know the meaning of "is?" But back to Gannon. From his answer it is clear that his whole purpose for being in the White House briefing room was so that he could give the White House a "news" organization that wouldn't investigate its crazy ass claims. Remember, this fits with the White House plan to circumvent the national media and take the "story" straight to the local/regional press outlets because the locals were less apt to question White House "stories."
COOPER: But using the term 'reporting' implies some sort of vetting, some sort of research, some sort of -- I mean, that's called faxing or Xeroxing, if you are just lifting transcripts and putting them into an article.
GANNON: If I am communicating to my readers exactly what the White House believes on any certain issue, that's reporting to them an unvarnished, unfiltered version of what they believe.