Spinonymous sources: Newsweek quoted unnamed "congressional aide" praising Bush's "second wind"
SUMMARY: An article for the June 26 edition of Newsweek on President Bush's "fresh strategy to build bipartisan support for the new Iraqi cabinet" quoted an anonymous "congressional aide" who attended a picnic at the White House saying: "It was like they'd gotten a second wind, the president especially. ... I haven't seen them that relaxed in a long, long time." Newsweek correspondents Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey wrote their source "declined to be named when talking about a private event," but this explanation appears not to meet the magazine's guidelines for anonymous sourcing.
In an article for the June 26 edition of Newsweek on President Bush's "fresh strategy to build bipartisan support for the new Iraqi cabinet," senior White House correspondent Richard Wolffe and White House correspondent Holly Bailey quoted an anonymous "congressional aide" who attended a picnic at the White House saying: "It was like they'd gotten a second wind, the president especially. ... I haven't seen them that relaxed in a long, long time." According to Wolffe and Bailey, their source "declined to be named when talking about a private event."
As Media Matters for America has noted, Newsweek's guidelines for anonymous sourcing state that "the burden of proof should lie with the reporters and their editors to show why a promise of anonymity serves the reader," and that Newsweek must "help the reader understand the nature of a confidential source's access to information and his or her reasons for demanding anonymity." Wolffe and Bailey simply repeated the source's reason for requesting anonymity. They failed to explain why this "congressional aide" -- they didn't even identify the aide's party -- deserved anonymity for speaking positively of the president, or how that anonymity served the reader. As Media Matters previously noted, Wolffe and Bailey, in a March 20 article, granted anonymity to a Bush aide defending the president's handling of the Dubai Ports World fiasco without explaining their reasons for allowing the aide to remain unnamed.
From Wolffe and Bailey's article in the June 26 edition of Newsweek:
The upbeat mood in the White House was not reflected in the polls: most showed only small shifts in Bush's approval. Still, lawmakers were struck by the change in atmosphere when they joined Bush for a Texas-themed picnic at the White House. "It was like they'd gotten a second wind, the president especially," said one congressional aide, who declined to be named when talking about a private event. "I haven't seen them that relaxed in a long, long time."
sure smells like it is, don't it
It's a mighty wind it is, this "second wind"...
It's down-right electric it is, this "surge of momentum"...
Seeing the Boss and the Vice-Boss riding this wave of popularity, it gives a person goose-bumps it does...
Fun-n-Frolic w/ a Texas-themed picnic is just the way to share all this success; crack open a few cans a beer while you're at it...
The Boss don't imbibe much, but he don't mind either; so crack open a few brewskis in celebration...
But before you do, either lock up all the shotguns, or lockup the Vice-Boss...
One or the other; because the Boss don't like it when the happy revellers get shot in the face...
That's an ill-wind.
That second bean.
that they would think all the supposed "good news" of the last couple weeks means anything. the same shinola we've had for five years from these people.
Hmmm, I don't know about that; but I do know the GW swagger is back. When I saw him strutting the other day I imagined the song Return of The Mack playing in the background. What did he get a 1 point bump in the polls, and isn't that just statistical noise?
"second wind"
"surge in momemtum"
"I haven't seen them that relaxed in a long, long time"
...these hacks blow so much smoke, the Surgeon General should require warning labels to accompany their "reports".
Last December 19 MMFA ran an item titled:
"CNN's Schneider falsely claimed recent national polls all showed Bush approval increase"
[link to mediamatters.org]
...from which we have:
In a report on President Bush's approval ratings... CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said that "[a]ll the national polls show the president's approval rating going up over the past month."
...and the item then subjects the noise of that "second wind" and "surge of momentum" to a closer analysis; and finds that guy's choice of polls to support his noise as being very selective; and that a more objective look at all the polls showed no such "approval rating going up" being reported by Zogby.
And what you'll find Zogby reporting as the president's "approval rating" of December 13, 2005, was:
Bush Job Approval at 38%
After edging above 40%, it fades again
President Bush’s job approval rating languishes under 40%, despite an upturn in the economy and (get this!)...
a public relations onslaught defending the role of the U.S. military in rebuilding Iraq, a new telephone poll by Zogby International shows.
Link to it yourself if you like...
[link to www.zogby.com]
38%, "despite a public relations onslaught defending the role of the U.S. military in Iraq".
38%: His hacks today can only wish he were still that "popular"...
That he still had that "second wind" and "surge of momentum".