Politico Does Campaign's Dirty Work?
A reader writes:
I actually think Martin was wrong to carry the dirty water for a campaign doing oppo. At least as big a story is now who did it(I count two suspects) and is that campaign/candidate really clean on their own contributions.
Here's our journalist-biased response:
(a) -- we think there are THREE suspects. But that's neither here nor there.
There's something wrong, certainly, with reporters being spoonfed oppo and reporting it as one's own hard work, or reporting it without context, without checking it out, without making sure that it is true.
But Martin wasn't spoon fed. He was tipped off to the existence of these contributions by a source who lives in another campaign. He checked it out and wrote about it, putting the story in the context of this race and dutifully disclosing that the material came from another campaign. Readers therefore have the information they need. And even if Martin abetted another candidate's message, so what? Rudy's difficulties with the abortion issue are not a thin-air construct. They're real -- and this story adds another piece to the puzzle. This whole shebang isn't called "the media" because it doesn't facilitate communication.
The trick is to use one's faculty of judgment and discretion, to be fairminded and to be honest about the source. In other words: if your intelligence sources tell you Iraq has WMDs, check it out before you write about it.
In our experience, about 50% of the "oppo" that reporters and, yes, even bloggers write about comes from other campaigns. We'll admit on this blog to having been tipped off to certain discrepant quotations or YouTube videos. But we've also -- many times, in fact, refused to report on certain tips we find irrelevant or unfair. So -- we bet -- has the Politico. [MARC AMBINDER]
It's an important debate to have, though.
Politico does dirty work you ask, Marc? I don't think you'd be asking this question if the oppo was on the Dem side. You don't seem to have any problem with the numerous hit pieces on the Democratic candidates by the Politico. Isn't that surprising?
What gives?
Marc,
Excellent! I am usually much more likely to write to DISAGREE with someone, but I just think your commentary was exceptionally well-put.
Come on, something is definitely rotten at the Politico, responsible journalists don't get linked to by Matt Drudge that consistently.