When Government Writes the Copy of “Journalists”
J.K. Trotter at Gawker (I know) continues to show how flacks to Hillary Clinton were able to dictate to big-name journalists exactly how they would write their stories.
The latest reveal deals with Marc Ambinder, then of The Atlantic, who wrote Clinton spokeshole Phillippe Reines to ask for a copy of Hillary Clinton’s upcoming speech. Reines told Ambinder he could provide a copy on two conditions, to which Ambinder replied “ok.” Reines then wrote:
From: [Philippe Reines]
Sent: Wednesday, July 15 2009 10:06 AM
To: Ambinder, Marc
Subject: Re: Do you have a copy of HRC’s speech to share?3 [conditions] actually
1) You in your own voice describe them as “muscular”
2) You note that a look at the CFR seating plan shows that all the envoys — from Holbrooke to Mitchell to Ross — will be arrayed in front of her, which in your own clever way you can say certainly not a coincidence and meant to convey something
3) You don’t say you were blackmailed!
Ambinder replied: “got it” — and like a dutiful little scribe, he complied with every request:
When you think of President Obama’s foreign policy, think of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. That’s the message behind a muscular speech that Clinton is set to deliver today to the Council on Foreign Relations. The staging gives a clue to its purpose: seated in front of Clinton, subordinate to Clinton, in the first row, will be three potentially rival power centers: envoys Richard Holbrooke and George Mitchell, and National Security Council senior director Dennis Ross.
Ambinder has taken a lot of criticism for this, and deservedly so. But lost in the shuffle has been Mike Allen of Politico. There are no emails showing a similar demand being made of Allen. But check out the opening of Allen’s piece about the same speech:
In a muscular first major address as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton warns adversaries on Wednesday that they “should never see America’s willingness to talk as a sign of weakness to be exploited.”
The seating! Don’t forget the seating, Mike!
A look at the CFR’s guest seating chart shows that arrayed in the front row will be top members of her team — the envoys she has called her “force multipliers”: Richard Holbrooke, George Mitchell, Dennis Ross, Philip Goldberg and Stephen Bosworth.
We told you to say “a look at the CFR’s guest seating plan,” Mike, not “chart.” It’s a minor quibble. Otherwise, we’re pleased. Holbrooke, Mitchell, Ross. You even got the order right, Mike! Well done!
On Friday, Trotter explained how Reines had once secretly ghostwritten an item on Allen’s blog. In November, Trotter showed that Allen promised positive coverage to Chelsea Clinton and promised to provide his interview questions in advance. “No one besides me would ask her a question, and you and I would agree on them precisely in advance.” The “no surprises” promise he made to Chelsea was common practice for Allen in dealing with Democrats, emails obtained by Trotter have revealed. So the chances that Reines dictated Allen’s coverage of Clinton’s speech are approximately yes it happened . . . give or take.
The fact that these guys still work and don’t get disciplined in any way tells you all you need to know.
Excellent work by Trotter.
I literally just logged onto Patterico to see if you had seen this article. Good find.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 2/10/2016 @ 7:52 amI saw an article about this in the New York Post and wanted to alert you. This is actually much better than what was in the New York Post – it has the text fthe Atlantic article and reveals there is yet another one.
I think Donald Trump, in his fied with Megyn Kelly was aiming to get the same hold over some journalists as Bill and Hillary Clinton have.
Sammy Finkelman (1a8d7e) — 2/10/2016 @ 8:13 ami need my w word
happyfeet (831175) — 2/10/2016 @ 8:16 amWanton pickles?
nk (dbc370) — 2/10/2016 @ 8:35 amWormy biscuits?
nk (dbc370) — 2/10/2016 @ 8:37 ami feel like helen keller in that miracle worker movie
happyfeet (831175) — 2/10/2016 @ 8:48 amPolitical “journalism” at it finest.
Bradley J. Fikes (2c3aa5) — 2/10/2016 @ 8:55 amThis is apparently an accepted practice. Routine amongst the JournoListas.
JD (34f761) — 2/10/2016 @ 9:45 amIf you can stomach spending any amount of time on Gawker, you have to read Marc Ambinder’s and Mike Allen’s responses to Trotter’s questions. Talk about the kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. For those of you sensible enough to avoid that whole cesspool of crybully activism, here is Gawker’s exchange with Ambinder:
So hey, yeah Ambinder sublet his journalism to the Clinton Political Machine, but at least he always felt bad about doing so!
JVW (d60453) — 2/10/2016 @ 9:45 amNotice the pretentiousness too of referring to journalism as an “art.”
JVW (d60453) — 2/10/2016 @ 9:46 amMark Halperin didn’t cover himself with glory either.
John D Jackson (116474) — 2/10/2016 @ 11:21 amSeveral journalists are mentioned; none seem to be hanging their heads in
shame.
I suppose Halperin was on ‘Morning Joe’ as usual? Not sure.
Wait is this the same GAWKER that has done the same thing while carrying H2O for both Obama and Clinton? The irony is thick here with the story. Reminds me of that time in Casablanca when the French Colonial police shut down this great bar because there was gambling going on, yet the head of the police had been there gambling almost daily.
Charles (103f46) — 2/10/2016 @ 11:42 am@11— and as he enforces the shut-down, the attendant shows up, “… your winnings, sir” as he gives Frenchie a handfull of cash.
Gramps (6a37e4) — 2/10/2016 @ 12:13 pmSo, coercion plus a bribe (access) to become campaign shills. This isn’t and worse than, say, plagiarism. Journalists used to look down on both, but no more.
This, IMHO, is as newsworthy as it would be if Hillary Clinton’s landslide loss in NH netted her most of that state’s delegates. It’s the same sort of insider dirty trash.
Oh, wait, she did that, too!
Arizona CJ (da673d) — 2/10/2016 @ 1:26 pmhttp://dailycaller.com/2016/02/10/hillary-earns-more-new-hampshire-delegates-than-sanders-after-loss/
The sacred duty of today’s journalist: Speaking Lies for Power.
Ray Van Dune (4878ce) — 2/12/2016 @ 11:33 am