[IMC-US] more on: PropaGannon scandal rocks White House

Sat Feb 12 00:02:03 CST 2005

Here's an UNFINISHED draft of some thoughts on Gannon. I'll certainly add more to it tomorrow, and when its done it'll be up on the nyc-imc website for use at imc us if people want it.

----

Why shouldn't James Guckert (aka 'Jeff Gannon')have been allowed in the White House briefing room?

Multiple questions surround the rapidly blossoming <a href=http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/02/1710897.php>press scandal</a>: did Guckert <a href=http://dailykos.com/story/2005/2/10/224122/709>blow the CIA cover</a> of Valerie Plame? Or <a href=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000799182>not</a>? What's Guckert's connection to the raft of <a href=http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=47>homosexually-themed</a> military escort websites registered under his name? What is <a href=http://www.leadpencil.net/blog/archives/000234.html>'Talon News'</a>? How does the Guckert case relate to other <a href=http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/1/11/145618/565>recent</a> Bush-admnistration propaganda scandals? The real question, though, is far harder to answer: what does it say about the state of American journalism when a fraudulent, partisan journalist is unmaked by insurgent, partisan bloggers? On what grounds can those of us in the radical media
 criticize J.D. Guckert?

That sounds a little harsher than I probably mean it to. After all, the bloggers (<a href=http://www.dailykos.com>Daily Kos</a>, <a href=http"//atrios.blogspot.com>Atrios</a>, <A href=http://mediamatters.org/>Media Matters</a>) who uncovered this farce really are heroes. And there are a few big differences between Guckert and the members of the left-wing blogosphere; for one thing, they don't use fake names to get access to White House press conferences, and for another they haven't been under invesitgation for their connection to the Plame affair.

But the issue goes deeper than this. After all, we in the alternative media have been gleefully tearing down the walls that separate journalists from ordinary people for close to six years now. It seems the Bush administration is cynically taking our advice, and doesn't seem to care who is a "journalist" these days as long as this or that person is on their side. As White House spokesman Scott McClellan <a href=http://wmass.indymedia.org/otherpress/display/276>said</a> on Friday, "in this day and age, when you have a changing media, it's not an easy issue to decide or try to pick and choose who is a journalist." Of course, as long as they spin your lies and shill for your domestic programs its easy to look the other way.

Tribal Scribal <valeoftheoaks at hotmail.com> wrote:
just checking in for a minute. i'll take a stab at "tying it all together" 
in the AM if no one does a workup before then, but we need more indy links. 
i was hoping dc would have something up, but no dice. you guys in nyc have 
today's interview between "gannon" and E&P here:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/141366/index.php which helps, but 
we have no original indy material (commentary anyone?).

i think "what can indymedia add that everyone else cant?" is to get into the 
nuances of what constitutes journalism. This will be dicey. As we all know, 
indy's been slammed for not being "real journalists" too. This is where i 
need to hear from you guys. Talon is an obvious PR front for far-right 
operatives. It's lies and disinforms. Indy is democratic grassroots, 
advocacy journalism. I would hope that we all strive to seek the truth, but 
it's open publishing and that leaves us open to disinfo as well. How do we 
make the distictions here? How do we make the case that indy should be in 
the room and talon shouldn't? OR do we just blow this part of the story off 
and hope that it doesn't come back & bite us in the ass?

Also, we need to keep the focus on the Bush regime's MASSIVE public 
relations scam and manipulation of the corporate media. The White House is 
going to pull out all the stops to move the focus over to the need to 
improve security ("how'd this guy get into the WH so easy" blaa, blaa). They 
may even find some McClellan underling to fall on his sword. The corporado 
media will probably follow suit (even though they've been publicly shafted).

Your thoughts?

d.o.

***************************************
"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as 
necessary in the political world as storms in the physical world."

- Thomas Jefferson
***************************************
more rebellion here:
http://concertobi.blogspot.com/

***************************************

>From: Chris Anderson 
>Reply-To: "Working Group for IMC-US." 
>To: "Working Group for IMC-US." ,imc-us at ucimc.org, 
>imc-us-editorial at ucimc.org
>CC: rabble at indymedia.org, breitbart at indymedia.org
>Subject: [IMC-US] more on: PropaGannon scandal rocks White House
>Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:45:55 -0800 (PST)
>
>-There are really four (or five) stories going on
>here. I figured the next step would be to break them
>down one by one:
>
>1. The story of how what bascially ammounted to a
>right-wing blogger got prime access to White House
>press briefings on a Daily basis where he asked
>partisan and misleading questions
>
>2. His connection to the Valerie Plame affair.
>
>3. The way he is tied into larger bush media
>manipulation's, including Bush's staged "pre-war"
>press conference, the fact that Bush paid various
>conservative columnists to promote his programs, and
>the fact that Bish admin sent out fake tv-news release
>to promte social programs.
>
>4. Gannon's domain name ownership of vaious
>gay-escort military sites
>
>5. the larger meta question about blogs, the media,
>indymedia, etc.
>
>here are some more links (more mainstream):
>
>Howard Kurtz on the affair
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/columns/kurtzhoward/
>and buzzflash on kurtz
>http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/02/edi05028.html
>editor and publisher runs 3 stories, including an
>interview with gannon where he basically denies the
>whole thing
>
>http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000799182
>
>http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000798573
>
>http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000798395
>
>interesting, the lefty bloggers are now totally
>playing down the whole sex thing: the major wrap up
>press release by
>daily kos doesn't even mention it:
>
>http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000798395
>
>because the fact that they probed the guy's personal
>life if being used, in the height of hypocricy, but
>the right wing bloggers to attack the lefties
>
>what else to folks think? anyone want to tie this all
>together? and the key question is still: what can
>indymedia add that everyone else cant?
>
>chris
>
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