What's going on with Andrea Mitchell? I used to think she was a pretty credible journalist (even though she is married to Alan Greenspan) but now I'm starting to have my doubts. For the most part she can pretty much play it down the middle, but on occasion she blurts out some not-so-objective statements like she did yesterday on Hardball when covering Obama and his trip to visit troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mitchell: "Let me say something about his message management. He didn’t have reporters with him. He didn’t have a press pool. He didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground either on Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in, you’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questioned by the military and what some would call fake interviews because they’re not interviews with a journalist so there’s a real press issue here. Politically it’s smart as can be, but we’ve not seen a Presidential candidate do this in my recollection ever before."
And the phrase "what some would call" is just doublespeak for "what I would call." But as far as her recollection of a presidential candidate ever doing this before? John Amato at Crooks & Liars might refresh her memory.
Mitchell: "Let me say something about his message management. He didn’t have reporters with him. He didn’t have a press pool. He didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground either on Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in, you’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questioned by the military and what some would call fake interviews because they’re not interviews with a journalist so there’s a real press issue here. Politically it’s smart as can be, but we’ve not seen a Presidential candidate do this in my recollection ever before."
And the phrase "what some would call" is just doublespeak for "what I would call." But as far as her recollection of a presidential candidate ever doing this before? John Amato at Crooks & Liars might refresh her memory.
AMATO: I understand the need to get footage of Obama is her job, but to say they were phony was like saying his trip was like those fake news reports the administration sold to local networks that were presented as real new stories. I wondered if John McCain handled any of his overseas trips in the same way and guess what?
(via email) From an AP article during McCain’s March trip:McCain’s visit was not announced and he was believed to have been in the country for several hours before reporters were able to confirm his arrival. It was unclear who he met with and no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.
So I think the GOP and wingnuts should stop whining about the supposed love-in the media is having with Obama on his trip, given the fact that they probably would have gone with McCain as well had he given them a heads up.
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