Syndicated columnist Bruce Bartlett notes that his colleague on the right, Armstrong Williams, is hardly the first journalist to take money from those he covers. Remember Sidney Blumenthal’s “fawning praises of Bill Clinton disguised as news reports” that led in short order to his White House job? But then there are the objective journalists…
…who routinely speak before corporations, trade associations and interest groups hoping to influence news coverage practice the greatest double standard. Virtually every major television anchor is listed with one or more speakers’ bureaus, which charge tens of thousands of dollars per appearance. But of course, this also gives business executives plenty of opportunity to explain why their industry or their products are really good for the American people. …
Yet journalists are still quick to assume every politician who takes a $1,000 campaign contribution from a lobbyist has been bought, while self-righteously proclaiming that $100,000 speaking fees cannot buy them. At least the officials have to disclose it, while no one knows how much the journalists make or whom they have been bought by – sorry, I mean by whom they were paid to speak.
Nice work if you can get it – I wouldn’t turn it down. But I wouldn’t deign to criticize politicians for doing it either.
I’m a tech journalist who’s making a TV show about a college newspaper.