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A meme grows in cyberspace

February 7, 2006 08:42 AM

There seem to be a alot of people impressed by this post from Mark Tapscott:

A veteran Senate GOP staffer who requested anonymity offered this observation about the significance of the Durbin-Mirengoff exchange:

"The mainstream news media that covers Congress is tightly controlled by the House and Senate press galleries and they would never be so aggressive in pressing a Member of Congress. So this was big, it was unprecedented to have a blogger asking such questions. We need more bloggers up here asking questions because they aren't controlled by the galleries."

My God, what nonsense! Whoever said this to Mr. Tapscott -- and I'm assuming the quote is accurate -- is either absurdly ignorant of how the press galleries operate on Capitol Hill or plainly dishonest. At the very least he is playing Tapscott for a fool.

Let's be clear: The press galleries have no control whatsoever -- nada, zip, zilch, zero -- over the substance of reporting by the accredited news media. The galleries issue credentials; they answer the phones; they help the press interact with the politicians (i.e. maintain the press theater). That's it. All of this is overseen by an elected committee of the journalists who are served. The thought of one of these galleries revoking the credentials or otherwise punishing an intemperate questioner is beyond the reach of absurdity. It is beyond metaphysics.

I suspect that beneath this blogospheric fantasy, soon be known as the Mirengoff Miracle, is an (understandable) frustration at watching politicians getting soft-balled at press conferences. But just because these events are televised does not make them "newsy." Reporters use them to gather "message" points, background and quotes. The news channels use them as space-fillers. Unless the press conference itself is the news (i.e. Murtha and Iraq), no one goes to one of these events expecting to break news or learn anything novel. In the Capitol by far the most important reporting is done out of sight of the cameras, in discrete, one-on-one encounters with Senators and Representatives, primarily during votes. Reporters stake out the House and Senate chambers and button-hole lawmakers as they come and go. Even the TV reporters do this. A reporter can sit in front of a lawmaker's office all day if he wishes to. On Capitol Hill it is almost impossible for a politician to evade journalists if the journalists are determined to find him. If you don't believe me, ask Gary Condit.

There's a very simple explanation for why the system works this way. It is because nothing worth asking a politician is worth asking in front of the assembled press corps. (Unless the purpose of the question is to trip up the target before the assembled press corps -- or to seem clever. That's the presidential press conference model.) Reporters want scoops, and they won't get scoops if they can't prevent competitors from learning the same information. Being sensible about how you gather your information is often the difference between A1 and B13. Only a bleeding idiot would tip off his competitors at a public event.

The truth is that for a reporter in the Capitol, the only real inhibitors are reluctant editors and one's personal desire to maintain credibility (i.e. by not printing falsehoods under your byline, or by not letting your questions outpace your facts). In the time I reported on Capitol Hill, I had occasion to pursue one lawmaker about his gambling addiction; another about his "relationship" with the daughter of a colleague; and several about whether they took bribes from Saddam Hussein. (Hey, it was worth a shot!) And I assure you, none of these matters was addressed before the assembled press corps and its television audience.

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Comments

Just want to make sure I understand you here: Are you saying that the reporters never go after Republican Senators the way that Paul went after Durbin? Are you saying that they do go after Republicans like that, but they go after Democrats like that, too? There was no "expose" subject in Paul's questions. he was just trying to get coherent information about of two public officials. Are you saying that the press doesn't see it as their job to get coherent information out of public officials, unless they can do it in such a way as to get a scoop? If so, what's the point of all those press conferences? TIA, Greg

Posted by: Greg D at February 8, 2006 07:19 PM

Kofi Annan has stepped down at the U.N. - at least a decade too late. I predict future historians will find it difficult to judge whether this ineffectual dupe was the puppet of genocidal regimes and autocrats or just their indispensable enabler. It is tough to fully enumerate the sins and consequences of this repugnant figure, but this WSJ editorial begins the grim task.

December 17, 2006 05:59 AM · Permalink

I am often asked what it's like living in Ukraine. Well, yesterday afternoon I heard some hammering, and it sounded pretty close, so I went to se what was up. Looking out from a living room window I found two men in a cherry-picker, and they were hacking away at the rim of my balcony with sledge mallets, breaking away the concrete and tearing up the tiles. I figured the owner of my apartment must have forgotten to tell me she was having work done. Today I found out this wasn't the case. Alarmed, she phoned the Zhek - the state agency responsible for, but rarely inclined to undertake, the upkeep of public property. Their response was basically, News to us. We are now facing the prospect that we may never learn who these men were and why they were attacking my balcony, which now needs extensive repairs. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that I have been victimized in an act of serial vandalism by two men with sledges and a cherry-picker. That, my friends, is what it's like to live in Ukraine.

November 15, 2006 04:23 PM · Permalink

Help, I'm on crack!

Oops - I mean, Help, I've been hacked! Not sure how long it was there, but someone managed to place an unauthorized link in Ethanistan. If anyone clicked on it, I apologize for not catching it sooner. Unless it linked to something cool. In which case, I'm glad I could open your mind to new exotic experiences, man.

August 23, 2006 12:05 PM · Permalink

REVEALER, REVEAL THYSELF

Hmmmm. You can read through the entirety of Tony Judt's defense of the Mearsheimer/Walt paper without ever learning that Judt has called for the dissolution of Israel. Yet it's a not-unreasonable assumption that this argument, which was (of course) very controversial when it was aired, was what led the Times to Judt's doorstep in the first place. Bad copy editing?

April 19, 2006 08:29 AM · Permalink

Blair: Contra the "Doctrine of Benign Inactivity"

Britain being home to some of earth's most cynical and repugnant twits -- George Galloway and Harold Pinter, to name just two -- it is easy sometimes to forget the heroic moral fortitude its leaders have demonstrated at critical moments across history. Tony Blair reminds us why he deserves mention alongside Churchill and Thatcher.

March 22, 2006 10:08 AM · Permalink

Greg Gutfeld answers one of the blogosphere's great quandaries: How do you even begin to satirize a Web site that presents Alec Baldwin, Deepak Chopra and other B-list dinner guests as deep thinkers? It's the funniest thing in cyberspace at the moment. Don't miss Greg's "bio" -- and definitely do not miss the comments left below his entries by HuffPosters, confused and angry, who came for the wisdom of Cindy Sheehan and got rabbit-punched by this smartass.

March 1, 2006 10:58 AM · Permalink

A true gentleman of the Blogosphere has learned he must battle more than just Moonbats in the months and years to come. Stop by GM's Corner and give George a shout -- and maybe leave some change in the bowl on the way out.

February 16, 2006 05:29 AM · Permalink

Fight Fascism - Eat a Butter Cookie. Wikipedia provides a handy list of Danish companies here. Hey, if all of us here band together and buy Danish that would be like ... four or five bucks. But it's the principle that counts!

February 9, 2006 08:13 PM · Permalink

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