A REVOLVING DOOR?…. With Time’s Jay Carney leaving the magazine to become Joe Biden’s communications director, some conservatives are using the occasion as proof that the media is liberal. The far-right Newsbusters site put together an interesting list of people who made the transition from a major news outlet to a Democratic campaign:
* CNN reporter Aneesh Raman who signed with the Obama campaign in September
* ABC reporter Linda Douglass who in May signed up as an Obama strategist and spokesman
* Former “Dateline” anchor Jane Pauley who toured the country campaigning on Obama’s behalf
* ABC News anchor Carole Simpson who teamed up the Hillary Clinton campaign during the Democratic primaries
* CNN reporter Andrea Koppel who signed up with a left-wing PR firm in February
* Kate Albright-Hanna, a producer with CNN who crafted web video strategy for Obama while working at the network
Newsbusters added that neither McCain nor any other Republican presidential candidate lured “Big Media journalists to go work for them.” (I should note that I haven’t fact-checked Newsbusters’ list or claims, and can’t vouch for its accuracy.)
Now, there are a couple of ways to look at this, assuming the information is correct. One could joke, for example, that Republicans don’t need journalists to go work for them; they already have Fox News. One might also note that the AP’s Ron Fournier considered joining the McCain campaign, but instead became the DC bureau chief for the wire service, repeatedly engaging in questionable journalistic calls that worked in McCain’s favor.
But instead, let’s consider a different list — people who made the transition from serving as top Bush administration officials to working for major news outlets:
* Michael Gerson was picked up as a columnist for the Washington Post.
* Sara Taylor, who was integrally involved in the U.S. Attorney Purge scandal and the politicization of federal agencies, became a pundit for MSNBC.
* Karl Rove became a Fox News “analyst,” a columnist for Newsweek, and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal.
* Tony Snow went from the White House briefing room to a gig on CNN.
* Frances Fragos Townsend also went from the White House to CNN.
* Nicole Wallace went from Rove’s office to CBS News (she left soon after to join the McCain campaign).
* Dan Bartlett is an “analyst” for CBS News.
If six media figures joining Democratic campaigns is proof that reporters are liberal, are seven loyal Bushies joining news outlets proof that major media outlets are conservative?
