Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Confused
There has been much made about President Obama calling on Sam Stein at last night's press conference. For those who did not watch, Stein is a blogger at the liberal Huffington Post and is not a traditional reporter. Obama called on 13 different people last night, and the nod to Huffington was both designed to throw a bone to the liberal bloggers AND to an important constituency in helping secure his November win. Clearly the Obama Internet campaign had everything to do with his win over Clinton and McCain, so it is natural that one would be in the audience.
What has puzzled me is the media's hype that this is a first. For instance, this article in Time notes that this is a first and not Jeff Gannon, the conservative reporter/gay porn star who was exposed in 2005 for lobbing softballs to President Bush during a press conference. Gannon represented Talon News Service, which was a Republican front.
But what about Garrett Graff? Doesn't ring a bell? Graff was a 23 year old blogger writing for Mediabistro's Fishbowl D.C. He was credentialed in March 2005, and attended both press briefings and press conferences. And there was a lot of fanfare at the time about the appointment.
So what gives? Is it one more example of the liberal media?
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What has puzzled me is the media's hype that this is a first. For instance, this article in Time notes that this is a first and not Jeff Gannon, the conservative reporter/gay porn star who was exposed in 2005 for lobbing softballs to President Bush during a press conference. Gannon represented Talon News Service, which was a Republican front.
But what about Garrett Graff? Doesn't ring a bell? Graff was a 23 year old blogger writing for Mediabistro's Fishbowl D.C. He was credentialed in March 2005, and attended both press briefings and press conferences. And there was a lot of fanfare at the time about the appointment.
So what gives? Is it one more example of the liberal media?
