WaPo: The Scandal That Keeps on Giving

[tuvor]

The story of the phony White House reporter who called himself Jeff Gannon just gets curiouser and curiouser every day -- and shows no sign of abating.

Quite the contrary, in fact. After only occasionally burbling out of the realm of bloggers and media watchers over the past few weeks, the story exploded onto network television last night.

And after a few days in which the chatter was fixated on the salacious associations that bloggers uncovered between James D. Guckert (Gannon's real name) and gay escort Web sites, the focus is back on a serious public policy question: Why was a non-journalist asking slanted non-questions welcomed into the White House Briefing room?

Here's Brian Williams, introducing the story to about 10-million-plus people last night on the NBC Nightly News:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35093-2005Feb18.html

[Hissyspit]

1. Washington Post, some soul-searching for you: Why did it have to burble...

out of the realm of bloggers and media watchers? Mightn't you have broken it? I mean, there guy was right there in town with you! Isn't that kind of like, part of your job or something?

[tuvor]

2. You can say that about any of the MSM.

Not to let WaPo of the hook, but they're ALL complicit in their silence.

[rodeodance]

3. The WH press core is NOT asking questions either (1/20)

.......And finally, it's worth noting that the White House press corps appears to consider this less of a story than a lot of other people do. Case in point: President Bush took almost 20 questions at yesterday's press conference, and not one of them was about Guckert.

[rodeodance]

4. press core probably afraid that they will will be blacklisted -like Helen

[Skittles]

5. perhaps an even bigger question is

why are online bloggers doing the job mainstream news reporters should be doing?

[tuvor]

6. Traditional journalism may be a dying industry.

Weakened by wanting to please corporate masters, and then further weakened by those upstart bloggers.

Survival of the fittest?

[glitch]

7. Definitely. Fortunately there is a place for real investigators.

Right here on the net. More should do as Greg Palast, Robert Parry, Bill Moyers and others have done. Why should legitimate journalists continue to provide cover for the corporate media?
The Guckerts should be all they are able to employ.
Until they clean up their acts they deserve no credibility. And it will take years for them to undo the damage their cowering to power has done.