When a Democrat turns conservative, it isn’t a pretty transformation. Case in point: Sen. Zell Miller, the keynote preacher — I mean speaker — at the Republican National Convention, who all but challenged Chris Matthews to a duel on “Hardball.” Acting like a mental patient off of his meds turned out to be a good career move for Zell, as he was recently hired as a FOX News contributor.
The wall between journalists and politicians has all but disappeared, another quaint relic of the journalistic past, like the wall once separating advertising and editorial departments. Everything is now an infomercial, either for the latest, hottest product or the newest piece of legislation. Quid pro quo is the status quo, and a lack of disclosure is now the norm.
Case in point: Another government payola scheme with a conservative columnist was exposed this week, this time involving the unbearable Maggie Gallagher. Turns out she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to produce materials promoting President Bush’s marriage initiative while her syndicated columns praising the president’s proposal were running in newspapers around the country.
She never once disclosed the federal contract to her readers.
Gallagher does not appear to understand the seriousness of her actions. “Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it? I don’t know. You tell me,” Gallagher told The Washington Post.
Okay, Gallagher, we’ll tell you. Not disclosing a substantial conflict of interest, especially involving the exchange of money, is one of the most obvious and egregious violations of journalistic ethics, a fact that even students at high school newspapers would know. How could a syndicated columnist be so naive? The answer is she couldn’t. Gallagher is stupid, no doubt, but she is not that stupid. Feigning ignorance in this matter is just plain despicable.
Other examples of undisclosed conflicts of interest have surfaced in recent days.
Conservative columnists Charles Krauthammer and William Kristol both were consulted on President Bush’s inauguration speech and then praised the speech on television without disclosing their contributing roles, according to the liberal group Media Matters for America. And FOX News host Sean Hannity admitted he should have disclosed that he sits on the advisory board of frequent guest the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson’s Brotherhood
Organization of a New Destiny.
All of this began less than a month ago when conservative columnist Armstrong Williams was busted for an even more serious and expensive payola scheme. Williams found it within himself to admit fault and apologize, something the government failed to do. But this time around, the administration is singing a different tune.
President Bush publicly called for an end to using taxpayer money to pay columnists to advance the administration’s position. “All our Cabinet secretaries must realize that we will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet,” Bush said.
Exactly. His agenda ought to, but
it doesn’t.
That is why the Bush administration spent record amounts of taxpayer money on public relations in 2004, according to a report released yesterday by
the House Committee on Government Reform. The report, which was prepared by Democrats, claims that
the White House spent $88 million of taxpayer money on “government-funded public relations contracts,” a 128 percent increase from 2000.
One has to wonder, if it costs this much money to persuade the American people to agree with Bush’s
agenda, just how sensible is it?
Not only that, but the administration has been found guilty of “covert propaganda” by the Government Accountability Office. It illegally used taxpayer money to produce fake news segments that sang the praises of its Medicare prescription drug plan.
It just goes to show that the Bush administration has so little credibility left after its torrent of lies about the war in Iraq and WMDs (this list could go on for the length of this column) that the White House must cloak its opinions and agenda in the garb of journalism. And, tragically, journalists from all media are capitulating.
Case in point: FOX News’ Carl Cameron was recently promoted to chief White House correspondent, despite the fact that (or maybe because) he fabricated quotes from Sen. John Kerry in a story on the FOX News Web site. During his first press conference, President Bush gave Cameron a warm response. “Carl, welcome to the beat. Is everybody thrilled Carl is here? Please express a little more
enthusiasm for him.”
Cameron then proceeded to change the wording of his question on Social Security reform, at first saying “private accounts,” but then correcting himself by using the term preferred by the president: “personal accounts.”
This small incident is symbolic of the state of journalism today. Politicians slap a logo on their legislative goods, and journalists play the role of Tony the Tiger: Personal accounts are grrrrrreat!

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