"The Fifth Reason the MSM Sucks
I have previously listed four reasons that the mainstream media is worthless: Self-censorship by journalists, censorship by editors and publishers, a predisposition to rallying around all war efforts, and censorship by the government.
I now have to list a fifth reason: cash payments.
Specifically, Politico reveals:
For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few": Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and — at first — even the paper’s own reporters and editors...That may be one reason that the mainstream news commentators hate bloggers so much. The more people who get their news from blogs instead of mainstream news sources, the smaller their audience, and the less the MSM can charge for the kind of "nonconfrontational access" which leads to puff pieces for the big boys.
The offer — which essentially turns a news organization into a facilitator for private lobbyist-official encounters — was a new sign of the lengths to which news organizations will go to find revenue at a time when most newspapers are struggling for survival.
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"Washington Post cancels ’salon’ after pay-for-access report
That didn’t take long.
"Washington Post cancels lobbyist event amid uproar
Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.
The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."
You know, like the NATIONAL ENQUIRER or something like that!
Also see: Operation Mockingbird
Yup, that's why the Washington Post is known as the CIA's newspaper!
"Newspaper publisher cancels ‘salons’" by Washington Post | July 3, 2009
WASHINGTON - Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth yesterday canceled plans for a series of policy dinners at her home after learning that marketing fliers offered lobbyists access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and Post journalists in exchange for payments as high as $250,000.
“Absolutely, I’m disappointed,’’ Weymouth, the chief executive of Washington Post Media, said in an interview. “This should never have happened. The fliers got out and weren’t vetted. They didn’t represent at all what we were attempting to do. We’re not going to do any dinners that would impugn the integrity of the newsroom.’’
Too late for you, WaPo!!
Moments earlier, executive editor Marcus Brauchli said in a separate interview he was “appalled’’ by the plan and had insisted before the cancellation that the newsroom would not participate. “It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase,’’ Brauchli said. The proposal “promises we would suspend our usual skeptical questioning because it appears to offer, in exchange for sponsorships, the good name of The Washington Post.’’
They are just buzzed they GOT CAUGHT!!!
The fliers, circulated by the paper’s parent company, offering an “intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and publisher Katharine Weymouth.’’ The fliers, which said participants would be charged $25,000 to sponsor a single salon and $250,000 to underwrite an annual series of 11 sessions, were reported yesterday by Politico.
“We do not offer access to the newsroom for money,’’ Brauchli said. “We just are not in that business.’’
No, they transmit the propaganda willingly and for free!!!!
And WE KNOW what BUSINESS they are in!
Two Post executives familiar with the planning, who declined to be identified, said the fliers appear to be the product of overzealous marketing executives....
Oh, you MEAN LIKE SELLING a WAR with LIES, WaPo?
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Related: Times Too Little, Times Too Late
MSM studiously avoids that topic, doesn't it?
Still using the same guys!
