UPDATED: Because Politico really is just a GOP bulletin board
July 24, 2009 9:19 am ET by Eric Boehlert
Because when a Republican somewhere, in some venue, criticizes Obama, it's news.
So Politico's Ben Smith rushed up a post yesterday after Minnesota's Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty appeared on Fox News and called Obama's health care reform proposal "a joke":
Pawlenty blasts Obama plan
In the eyes of Politico pros that's news. It's important and it needs to be documented (complete with video!) for all the Beltway to see. The deep irony of course is that, from a journalism perspective, a Republican appearing on Fox News to attack Obama (about anything) is pretty much the opposite of news. It's ordinary, expected and predictable.
But at Politico, which seems to have been created in order to give Republicans a bigger platform at attack Democrats, the dog-bites-man sight of a Republican criticizing a Democrat (on Fox News, no less), has been elevated to a hallmark event and one that must--must!--be reported quickly, quoted at length, and treated as gravely important.
This is just part of their eager to please platform laid out to garner just one good word from the man they say rocks their world.
However, I have yet to see any traditional media take up and make a huge deal about the almost daily reports by republican party operatives at state levels who are emailing out a constant stream of hate and racist emails like that Dr. in fla with the disgusting and offensive Witch Dr. email.
Where is the traditional media? Where is Politico?
This is something that needs to be exposed!
Just as, from a journalism perspective, a Democrat appearing on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, PBS, and basically anyone that's NOT FoxNews, to support and defend Obama (about anything) is pretty much the opposite of news.
Aside from MSNBC primetime, there is not a single host in the media who rubberstamps liberal democrats. There are hosts on pretty much every outlet, including MSNBC, who rubberstamp conservatives.
I don't agree with MMFA's rubric though. I think it's news when a politician makes a valid argument. It's also news when a politician makes an invalid argument, as long as the story is about the invalidity of the argument and the defective character of the politician who is willing to advance an invalid argument.
Politico is as partisan as Fox news; they just use a better vocabulary. They have apparently fooled a lot of successful Progressive bloggers.
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