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Miami Herald reporter Evan S. Benn, under instruction from his editors, paid $50 last Sunday to the Clinton campaign to cover a fundraiser and rally by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Benn said he tried to get in for free, presenting himself as a reporter, but was told the event was closed to the media and was turned away. He then made the minimum contribution to get in. Local television stations remained camped outside.The ombudsman continued on, conveying how he spoke with a bunch of people in the newsroom about how Florida is in such an odd position, given the state’s decision to move up their primary and the Democratic National Committee publicly chastising the state:
The Miami Herald's decision to contribute was made after nearly a week of what, by all accounts, was a strong internal debate among editors and reporters. The concerns, which strike at the ethical core of a newspaper, were: fairness to readers and other candidates; paying for news; whether to sneak in; and what to do going forward.
The issue was created by a novel situation, unforeseen by most ethical guidelines.So the Miami Herald made its decision, stuck to it, and adopted a fully transparent approach. Good enough, right?
It began when the Legislature moved up the date of Florida's primary, putting it among the earliest in the nation. Fearing hop-scotching by other states, the Democrat and Republican national committees took counter measures….
The Democrats have resorted to sleights of hand. Instead of exclusive fundraisers for big rollers, the Democrats are creating large, cheap ones that are, in fact, also mass rallies.
Half a century ago, sociologist David Riesman noted that in a mass media age, journalists tend to be cheerleaders for political candidates who have the charisma of entertainers….
It's truer than ever today. Early on in this week's Republican debate, CNBC's Maria Bartiromo asked Mitt Romney about the economic woes in Michigan, where the debate took place. Romney saw his opening and got off a Reaganesque quip about the state's Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm. "I was frankly a little nervous about being here tonight," he said in his eerily smooth game-show-host way. "I figured she was going to put a tax on the debate before we got finished."
The joke got a big laugh, and the camera shifted to Bartiromo … She was smiling warmly and throwing co-host Chris Matthews a look that seemed to say, "Ten points for Mitt, eh?"
Later, in the debate's so-called Lightning Round (hmm, maybe it really is all a game show) Romney scored again when he compared the debates to candidate Fred Thompson's former TV show, Law and Order. As the audience roared, the camera went to Thompson for his comeback: "And to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage."
The purpose of this website, and an accompanying column in the Post, is to "truth squad" the national political debate in the period leading up to the 2008 presidential election. Our goal is to shed as much light as possible on controversial claims and counter-claims involving important national issues, such as the war in Iraq, immigration, health care, social issues, the economy, and the records of the various presidential candidates. When we come across a statement or claim that is at variance with the facts, as best we can establish them, we will point that out.While it's clear they're taking their job very seriously, they still keep it readable with features like "The Pinocchio Test" where they score misstatements or exaggerations on a scale of one to four Pinocchios. (And reward fully truthful statements with the mark of "Geppetto.")
The purpose of this website, and an accompanying column in the Post, is to "truth squad" the national political debate in the period leading up to the 2008 presidential election. Our goal is to shed as much light as possible on controversial claims and counter-claims involving important national issues, such as the war in Iraq, immigration, health care, social issues, the economy, and the records of the various presidential candidates. When we come across a statement or claim that is at variance with the facts, as best we can establish them, we will point that out.While it's clear they're taking their job very seriously, they still keep it readable with features like "The Pinocchio Test" where they score misstatements or exaggerations on a scale of one to four Pinocchios. (And reward fully truthful statements with the mark of "Geppetto.")
We'll be trying out a mechanism for publishing comments from a special subset of readers: those people or organizations who were actual participants in the story in question. Our long-term vision is that any participant will be able to send in their comments, and we'll show them next to the articles about the story. Comments will be published in full, without any edits, but marked as "comments" so readers know it's the individual's perspective, rather than part of a journalist's report.At first blush, this sounds great. Let’s get the information straight from the horse’s mouth. If there is more to the story, let’s hear it out.
As much as we'd like to think that as a culture, that we have progressed to the point where it doesn't matter, I think that in news particularly, there is a sense that there is not the -- I hate the "G" word, but the gravitas when a woman gives the news, as opposed to a man gives the news. You also have to understand that the average news viewer tends to be older, 60 and older, so they are more entrenched in the tradition. And the tradition, until Katie Couric came in September, was white, middle-aged men.Last week, Rebecca Dana wrote a piece in Slate asking if Couric's "rocky start" means trouble for Hillary Clinton in her presidential campaign. She wrote that both the anchor and chief executive jobs have certain similarities: "It's not simply that both jobs are traditionally male. It's that both demand a certain stage presence—an intangible sense of authority, divorced from direct, measurable accomplishment." According to Dana's sources, there is still a "small but unmovable percentage" of the American public uncomfortable "hearing serious, scary things" from a woman. That presumably applies when it comes to both the Oval Office and anchor chair.
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