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Journalists Route Around White House Press Office

Tailhook writes Pool reports written by White House correspondents are distributed to news organizations via the White House Press Office. Reporters have alleged that the Obama White House exploits its role as distributor to "demand changes in pool reports" and has used this power to "steer coverage in a more favorable direction." Now a group of 90 print journalists has begun privately distributing their work through Google Groups, independent of the Press Office. Their intent is to "create an independent pool-reporting system for print and online recipients."

8 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Control by peragrin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Internet perceives censorship as damage and routes around it. The tighter the control the more systems will slip through their fingers.

    Ooh how many more memes can this article produce?

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    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  2. Re:If I were president... by wisnoskij · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So you would run on a platform of "change" and "transparency"?
    You are not fooling anyone Obama.

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    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  3. Apparently Worse Now by glennrrr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, apparently under this President it's gotten to the point where they've have to have a formal work-around. Perhaps partisans will jump in and say that under Bush a report was delayed for an hour because of an emergency, or some other lame precedent that will allow them to claim that "everybody does it," when no, everybody doesn't do it.

  4. Re: If I were president... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You neck bearded basement dwellers have NO IDEA how the real world works.

    There is a *very* simple way to take care of that. Go full Donald Trump on them. Your fired and not allowed back.

    When your people do bad things that make you look bad you get rid of them.

    An old boss of mine put it perfectly. If you come to me *we* have a problem. If I find out otherwise *you* have a problem.

    Your fired for breaking the law gets you no benefits.

    For example Nixon could have handled his situation much better by just firing people and coming clean. I think his reaction was "what asshole authorized this" and then circle the wagons. Sound familiar? It should, the current admin is doing the same thing.

    It would send a clear message to people "I do not put up with this I expect you to do the right thing".

    They are too busy blowing each other to notice there is an easy solution to their problems. They hire people because of their connections not because they will do the right thing. They are so desperate to hold onto that hellish job they will do and say anything.

  5. Re:If I were president... by nucrash · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sadly our current news media is ratings driven drivel. When your news outfits become purely profit driven, your quality doesn't have to be appealing, only your entertainment value. That is probably the largest marker of the decline of the United States. Often we hear about how the bread and circuses had to be maintained to keep the populace of Rome happy. As it turns out, our news media reflects a circus, and we have McDonald's and other fast food venues for our bread. While I support the legalization of marijuana, I feel that cheap thrills obtained by weed will most likely perpetuate this culture of bread and circuses.

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    Place something witty here
  6. Re:What's the Press Office for? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Everyone should see the movie Network. It is absolutely brilliant. The dearth of investigative journalism has a lot to do with news departments being expected to turn a profit and get ratings. Once that requirement is in place, everything will be subordinated to the bottom line. Journalism stops and profit seeking begins.

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    "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
  7. Re:If I were president... by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I'm not saying Bush didn't do it...I'm saying it has been getting progressively WORSE for all administrations starting at least with the last 3 of them...a real decline in independent and investigative journalism.

    I think they should stop allowing the President or other officials from "choosing" whom to get questions from in the pool...make it a random drawing who gets question 1, 2, 3....

    But has gotten progressively worse...and that means the current admin is about bottom of the barrel with respect to this...until the next admin....

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    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  8. Re:If I were president... by Dragonslicer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bush did it first! Bush did it first! Bush did it first!....seriously how fucking long can you parrot this shit?

    For as long as people think that it will all be fixed by a Republican president.