Dallas paper interview with Talon News Service owner

[crispini]

Right-tilted owner of site unfazed by reporter flap

Talon leader says White House coverage will go on despite resignation

11:34 PM CST on Friday, February 11, 2005

By KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – The politically conservative owner of the online Talon News Service said Friday that his site would continue its coverage of the White House despite harsh criticism of one of his reporters.

Bobby Eberle Jr., a Houston activist and engineer who also runs the popular GOPUSA political Web site, told The Dallas Morning News that he plans to replace reporter James Guckert, who went by the name Jeff Gannon. The reporter resigned Tuesday after reports that he had used the fake name in White House press briefings for two years and was employed by a politically active and partisan company.

"We haven't stopped our operations at all," Mr. Eberle said in a telephone interview from his Houston home. "We've got four new stories up there today."

Founded by a young, Texas-based board of directors, GOPUSA has half a million subscribers and sends Talon News stories to its audience daily. Among the founding members of GOPUSA are Richard Powell, a former policy adviser to Gov. Rick Perry; Bill Fairbrother, chairman of the Williamson County GOP; and Steve Findley, a member of the state GOP's executive committee.

More....
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/washington/stories/021205dntextalon.4e644.html

Well, well, well. But not a thing about the Plame connection, eh? I think reporter Karen Brooks might be interested in hearing from us. Why not take a look at the story and send your suggestions for future stories to: [e-mail]

[BR_Parkway]

1. 4 new stories? Well, how hard is cut n paste from the WH email?

Any 10 yo could do it in about 15 mins.

[Scurrilous]

3. Four stories is hard work...

...and about their daily average:

http://www.talonnews.com/

I could slap that together on my lunch break and still have time to eat.

[papau]

2. He did not even pay his Wash Bureau Chief a salary - Fellow was

cut a check - a stipend is the word the fellow used to refer to his "wage" in his application for a Congressional pass - said pass being turned down because they felt with no salary, he was really not a reporter - just a lobbyist that submitted his expenses now and then.

[crispini]

4. Do you have a link or source for that?

I'm working on my letter to the reporter now.

[papau]

7. You are testing my memory now - It was a part of the "hard pass"

discussion over last 4 days.

In that discussion was a copy of the letter from Congressional folks denying him his pass and saying they did not feel getting a "stipend" made him a professional reporter.

A Search of DU might turn it up - or a Google

But I am better at remembering what Truman said than I am at remembering the last 5 minutes!

The Letter from the Lady that passes on credentials for Congress is what you want.

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/~lautenberg/press/2003/01/2005210903.html

Dear Mr. McClellan,

I am writing to request that you immediately release documents to my office relating to the White House press credentials of James D. Guckert, a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon." Specifically, I am seeking documentation related to the question of which name Mr. Guckert/Gannon used when applying for credentials, and which name was on the official White House press credentials he received. Additionally, I am seeking documents indicating whether Mr. Guckert/Gannon received a "hard pass" or daily passes from your office. Despite your assertions to the contrary, at least one White House reporter has revealed that Mr. Guckert/Gannon appeared to have "hard pass" credentials.

As you may know, Mr. Guckert/Gannon was denied a Congressional press pass because he could not show that he wrote for a valid news organization. Given the fact that he was denied Congressional credentials, I seek your explanation of how Mr. Guckert/Gannon passed muster for White House press credentials.

I have led the effort in the Senate to investigate a number of instances of troubling propaganda efforts by the Administration. The Government Accountability Office has agreed to my requests to investigate various attempts at media manipulation: fake television news stories touting both the new Medicare law and the "No Child Left Behind" education program; a study rating individual journalists on their "favorability" to Republican education policies; and the payment to journalist Armstrong Williams.

Since the Armstrong Williams controversy became public, Administration payments to two other journalists, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus, have come to light. Given the backdrop of these scandals, coupled with Mr. Guckert/Gannon's role in recent White House press briefings and press conferences, it is understandable that the circumstances of Mr. Guckert/Gannon's credentialing have raised suspicion.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely, Frank R. Lautenberg

[papau]

8. A quick Google got me the chairwoman of the Senate press gallery's executi

Julie Davis, chairwoman of the Senate press gallery's executive committee, said Guckert could not demonstrate any separation between Talon News and GOPUSA, a Republican consulting group.

But I can't find the decline letter!

sorry.

[crispini]

10. thanks, I went with the Salon quote anyway.

See below. I figured I'd keep it short and sweet rather than throwing in everything and the kitchen sink. ;)

[Mike Niendorff]

5. Bingo! NOW we know where Guckert gets that "700,000" figure.

When Guckert was "interviewed" on CNN, he claimed that Talon News was a legitimate news organization because it had "700,000 subscribers".

So where did he get this ridiculous claim from?

Well, here we have the answer.

He's not talking about Talon's readership or Talon's subscribers, he's talking about the size of the spam-list run by GOPUSA.

Furthermore, this completely undercuts his claims that Talon is "independent" of GOPUSA. If he's claiming that his "subscribers list" is the same thing as GOPUSA's, then what he's saying is that these entities are effectively a joint operation.

Ya can't have it both ways, James. Either you're independent (in which case you don't have 700,000 subscribers), or you're not (in which case Talon is a front for a GOP activist operation).


MDN

[Eric J in MN]

6. Will there be another "Talon News" reporter at the next White

House press conference?

If so, can someone from "The Daily Kos" get a press-pass. That has paid advertising, and more daily visits than "Talon News."

[crispini]

9. Here's my letter to the reporter.

Thank you for your coverage. It's interesting to hear Mr. Eberle's take on things.

However, his claim that Talon News and GOP USA are separate seems rather disingenuous to me, and I was a bit surprised that you would take his claim at face value, without printing a counter-viewpoint. I refer you to this quote from a member of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, who refused to credential "Gannon":

"We didn't recognize the publication, so we asked for information about what Talon was," says Julie Davis, a reporter for the Baltimore Sun who is on the committee. "We did some digging, and it became clear it was owned by the owner of GOPUSA. And we had asked for some proof of Talon's editorial independence from that group ... They didn't provide anything, so we denied their credentials, which is pretty rare," says Davis. (1)

Also, your story didn't touch on the REAL story, which is: Talon is largely staffed by what appears to be volunteer Republican activists rather than reporters. (2) Why does this organization have press credentials at all? How did this "reporter" – who appears to have had at most two days of journalism training (3) get a coveted spot in the White House press corps?

Furthermore, how did this "reporter" find out classified information about CIA Agent Valerie Plame? (4)

I'm looking forward to your follow up.

Sincerely,
XXXXX

Source links:
1 - http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/02/10/gannon_affair/index.html
2 - http://mediamatters.org/items/200501280006
3 - http://mediamatters.org/items/200502120002
4 - http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/politics/11gannon.html?a

[papau]

11. Excellent

:-)

[crispini]

12. Thanks!

:hi: I enjoyed writing "Gannon" and "reporter" everywhere throughout it. And I thought of KO making little quote marks with his fingers when I did. :loveya: