Blogs

Across The Media Universe: Press Bashers Anonymous Edition

By Hillary Profita

January 29, 2007 / 12:10 PM EST / CBS News

(AP)

Press Bashers Anonymous: During a White House event last Friday honoring the late Time magazine reporter Hugh Sidey, former President George Bush unleashed what CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller described as a "formidable tirade" on the press. Taking an adversarial approach to the subjects journalists cover is one thing, he explained, but "It's another when the journalists' rhetoric goes beyond skepticism and goes over the line into overt, unrelenting hostility and personal animosity." He added that he had begun an organization called "Press Bashers Anonymous" at one point, but "…then along came the South Carolina primary or something like that – and the hell with it – I got out of the organization and it folded."

White House Hearts Bloggers: White House Press Secretary Tony Snow also had a few opinions about the press to share at a recent Q&A at George Washington University, The Washingtonian reports. To begin, no one can be an objective reporter. "God's objective. He knows what the truth is. Everything else is scratching at the surface." His other message: "the White House is continuing its efforts to bypass the mainstream media when possible." That means things like last week's conference call with "25 to 30 bloggers" before the State of the Union speech will likely be repeated.

CNBCitigroupGate?: A questionable relationship between CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo (of BartinankeGate fame) has been eating up headlines for days among media-watchers (especially at TVNewser, where you can keep up with all the background and all the latest.) In today's New York Times, TV critic David Carr sounds off on the matter. And he writes what has been largely left out of most analyses: "Commerce runs on the favor bank," he says, and that symbiotic relationship "happens in journalism, too, no matter what anyone tells you."

Considering that, the question of why Bartiromo was making "command appearances at the request of Citigroup — and many other companies — that sit dead center in Ms. Bartiromo's beat," still remains. CNBC has made statements arguing that the anchor's "journalistic integrity was never compromised nor would she or CNBC allow it to be. Any implication to the contrary is inaccurate." Says Carr: "Hyperbole aside, the statement is true as far as it goes. But it ignores the reality that there is an implicit contract at play here. By making huge advertising buys on CNBC, Citigroup obtained access to its biggest star. Clearly, an exchange of brands was under way." He continues: "In that respect, CNBC has roughly the same relationship to Wall Street that 'Entertainment Tonight' has to Hollywood: boosterish, gossipy and more than a little starry-eyed."