New York Times reporter Peter Baker is displeased that sites like Talking Points Memo and Huffington Post are now included in the White House in-town press pool:
“’This is really troubling,’” said New York Times reporter Peter Baker in an e-mail to POLITICO. ‘We’re blurring the line between news and punditry even further and opening ourselves to legitimate questions among readers about where the White House press corps gets its information.’”
This is bunk. In my view, Brain Beutler and Sam Stein’s reporting is as good — if not better — as most of the political reporting coming out of the Times. I say this as part of a dwindling population who can still justify paying the obscene sum of money that the paper charges for home delivery.
Moreover, Baker seems to be a bit confused here:
“Baker said he has no problem with outlets like Huffington Post, which he described ‘an important part of the marketplace of ideas.’ But the site, he said, has a mission ‘to produce pieces with strongly argued points of view…’”
It sounds to me like Baker doesn’t read TPM of Huffpo. Josh Marshall’s writing is part of the “market place of ideas.” But Josh Marshall isn’t in the pool. TPM’s DC-based reporters are (namely, Christina Bellantoni and Brian Beutler). They are not opinion writers, but reporters. Clearly, the site has an overall leftward lean, but the pieces on TPMDC are not “strongly argued points of view.”
So I don’t see how the inclusion of TPM or HuffPo is “troubling.” What is troubling is that a venerated New York Times reporter would would be so unfamiliar with the stellar journalism that can be found at those sites.
Matthew Spieler
Matthew Spieler is a former policy analyst for Congressional Quarterly, where he covered health care, education, labor, and veterans’ affairs. A graduate of The George Washington University, he has also worked as a reporter for CQ covering ...
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Robbie says:
I don't have a problem with Huff Post and TPM being in the pool. Their obvious (and admitted) Liberal bias is no different than the NY Time's Liberal bias.
What I do have a problem with is Obama intentionally excluding Right-leaning blog reporters (Mary Katherine Hamm, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) from the Washington pool.
Marc says:
I agree with Robbie. If you want to allow liberal-leaning blogs/papers then allow right-leaning blogs/papers. If you don't fear the debate of your ideas, then what's the problem?
The NYT hates bloggers, plain and simple. They hate the idea that they are no longer the paper of record. Evolve or die.
Idiot Joe Biden says:
Liberals ignore facts and like things one sided. The only way liberals can win is through lying (i.e. Obama election on 'hope'), cheating (i.e. Minnesota Goveners election), stealing (i.e. Acorn stealing votes for Obama election).
Liberals need to be held to the same level of scum such as criminals and corrupt political officials. Luckily, the opposition is making head way and any American who cares about the truth is beginning to understand just how bad liberals are in government. Liberals belong only in two places, jail and hell.
Davi Napoleon says:
Anyone who has a problem with reporting by TPM, Huff Post--or TFT--ought to insist that reporters from these outlets become part of the White House press corps, not ban them. Good reporting depends on access. So does intelligent op-ed writing.Should columnists from internet papers pull opinions from the air or to develop ideas after exposure to all available information--and some that may not be available before we dig. I write opinion pieces in my TFT column, Theater Talk, and I form these opinions after exhaustive research.