Obama and the Corps [Fritzworth]

The White House press corps, that is. Keith Koffler, who used to be part of the White House press corps while working at Roll Call, calls out the Obama Administration for its systematic and heavy-handed tactic of bullying and intimidating journalists who dare to write critically of The One:

The White House bullies reporters to try to ensure favorable coverage. When White House officials, particularly members of the press office, see a story they don’t like, they often call and verbally abuse the reporter who wrote the piece.

In diatribes often peppered with obscenities, they complain of profound injustice, bias, lack of relevance – anything they can think of to get reporters to back off their story.

It’s not just a series of uncontrolled outbursts. It is a planned, methodical, and highly artificial effort to either squash a story or get inside a reporter’s head so they think twice about doing a piece next time that negatively impacts Obama.

That this is an actual policy is evident from the consistency of the practice and its implementation by nearly every member of the White House press office staff. They are all nice, affable people who suddenly switch into an unmarked gear and begin running you over at full speed.

Hey, it's the Chicago way. Read the whole thing, particularly where Kofford contrasts it with the Bush and Clinton administrations. ..fritz..

posted by Open Blogger at 12:21 PM

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