Re: Rejecting Dialog with Government Vermin

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

VZ--

Sure it's bribery -- at least an informal, backscratching kind. It's the
way any public relations flack works: floating stories and giving
information to friendly journalists. But it's more insidious when it comes
from government. (Now, some news outlets have some insulation from this,
since no senator is going to turn down an opportunity to appear on NBC
Nightly News, even if it critizies their pet program.) 

But your excerpt didn't give me a chance to finish my story, and you
leaped to the wrong conclusion.

I turned down the FCC dinners, filed my story, argued with my editors who
watered it down, and moved on to my next project. 

Not all journalists have "hockable ethical standards." Indeed, some of us
care about the truth. 

-Declan


On Wed, 30 Apr 1997, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:

> DM
> >
> >Yep. DC is about power. It's okay to question who should have it (though
> >Republicans or Democrats are your only choices), but it's almost unheard
> >of to question whether any of 'em should have it at all. And rewards are
> >given to those who Play the Game. For instance, I was interviewing some
> >FCC commissioners recently for an upcoming article in a widely-read print
> >mag, and the agency wanted the article to tilt their way. A week later I
> >found my name on the posh invite list to black-tie dinners with the
> >commissioners. That's access, folks, and it's responsible for a good
> >portion of a journalistic success. If you don't have it, your articles
> >suffer. 
> 
> I rest my case. That's *bias* and essentially *bribery*, folks, and its
> responsible for a good portion of the corruption of the media. and what's
> more amusing, not a single reporter involved in it has any pangs of doubt.
> DM is downright proud that he's so clever that he's figured out this
> ingenious inbred system of you-scratch-my-back!! congratulations on your
> ingenuity, DM!! you will truly go a long way with your clearly highly
> negotiable and hockable ethical standards...! I see you must be eyeing the
> NYT or the Washington Post, eh? 
> 
> (DM, imagine the manipulation that you are describing getting *worse*
> as you rise to the top, with your scent of it only a small whiff in
> comparison, and you begin to understand the corruption that infects
> the reality that surrounds us..)
> 
> 
>