Revolving Door

Revolving Door Keeps Spinning: WaPo Dem Booster Shailagh Murray Leaves for Biden Post
By Lachlan Markay | March 18, 2011 | 3:41 PM EDT

After penning a number of stories toeing the Democratic line on a variety of issues, Washington Post reporter Shailagh Murray decided to make it official: the Post announced Friday that she has taken a job in the office of Vice President Joe Biden.

Murray marks the 18th journalist to move from a reporting position to a post in Democratic politics or vice versa since President Obama took office. The revolving door between journalism and the Democratic Party underscores the extent to which the ideologies of each overlap.

The bias dossier on Murray is thinner than, say, Katie Couric's, but contains a number of telling items. Let's review a few of the highlights.

Ex-Dem Aide Turned Journalist George Stephanopoulos Highlights Journalist Turned Dem Aide Jay Carney
By Scott Whitlock | January 28, 2011 | 3:08 PM EST

Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos and Jake Tapper on Friday addressed the fact that Barack Obama's New press secretary, Jay Carney, is the husband of ABC reporter Claire Shipman. Stephanopoulos, discussing the couple, declared, "He and Claire actually appeared many times on This Week when I was the anchor. And, of course, Claire will now not be covering the White House."

Stephanopoulos, it should be noted, underwent the reverse career course of Carney. The GMA co-anchor began as a Democratic operative and then became a journalist. (Carney wrote for Time magazine before going to work for Vice President Joe Biden.)

Although Stephanopoulos tried to minimize the conflict of interest, insisting  Shipman will no longer be covering "the White House," he didn't explain if that included the 2012 presidential race, the opponent's of her husband's boss and other issues relating to the administration.

Claire Shipman's Husband Named New Obama Press Secretary; Conflict of Interest for ABC?
By Scott Whitlock | January 27, 2011 | 5:46 PM EST

The White House on Thursday named Jay Carney, the husband of ABC News reporter Claire Shipman, to be the new White House Press secretary. Carney is also an ex-journalist, formally of Time magazine.

Will this appointment prove to be a conflict of interest for Shipman? Will she continue to report on the Obama administration? Shipman whose title is senior national correspondent, often covers political stories and has a reputation as an activist liberal. In 2008, she hailed Barack Obama, the now-boss of her husband, as "brave" for a speech disassociating himself with radical preacher Jeremiah Wright. In 2007, she fawned over Obama's "fluid poetry."

In 2000, she lauded Al Gore as a "pretty conservative Democrat." In 2004, discussing former Communist leader Mikhail Gorbachev, she ltouted him as "generally regarded" for being "the man who broke down the ‘Iron Curtain.'"

DNC $1 Mil Fundraiser Held at Former ABC Reporter's Home
By Tom Blumer | October 2, 2010 | 11:31 AM EDT
LindaDouglass1010The arrangement described here is so journalistically incestuous I was considering hanging an NC-17 (or worse) rating on this post.

You see, the husband of a former longtime ABC reporter held a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the couple's home Thursday night at which President Barack Obama appeared for 15 minutes. The reporter's husband was on the Obama campaign's national finance committee and now is the chairman of a White House commission. As if it really matters, the former ABC reporter, Linda Douglass, who left to work for Obama's presidential campaign and who then joined his administration for 18 months until landing a media management gig at the Atlantic, says she was "not involved" in the event.

Keach Hagey at the Politico took a bit longer to describe things, accompanied by what I think was supposed to be a flattering picture of Ms. Douglass (seen above, but cropped for this post):

Linda Douglass explains DNC fundraiser

George Stephanopoulos Strategizes With Old Boss Bill Clinton: How Can Obama Regain His 'Gut Connection?'
By Scott Whitlock | September 21, 2010 | 11:29 AM EDT

Interviewing Bill Clinton for Tuesday's Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos' nine minute segment mostly amounted to a strategy session that was devoid of tough questions. Stephanopoulos stuck to softball comments, such as inquiring of the Clinton Global Initiative. He also speculated how Barack Obama could regain his "gut connection" with the American people. [MP3 audio here.]

Some people, if they were interviewing their former boss, might feel an extra responsibility to ask probing, grueling questions. Instead, Stephanopoulos brought up Sarah Palin: "Is she qualified to be president?" He followed up, "What's your gut on that?"

The former Democratic operative turned journalist could have pressed the ex-President about the details of his charity, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Considering that the international group deals with several world leaders, he might have asked if there was any conflict of interest for Bill Clinton's Secretary of State wife. Stephanopoulos could have queried as to the funding for CGI. He did not.

ABC News Exec Joins Left Wing Firm Which Boasts 'Far-Reaching Role' in Electing Obama
By Brent Baker | September 14, 2010 | 1:32 PM EDT
Emily Lenzner, Executive Director of Communications at ABC News for its DC-based shows, who spent eight months in 2007-2008 as editorial producer for This Week with George Stephanopoulos (for whom she also toiled inside the Clinton White House), has left ABC News for Anita Dunn's “strategic communications firm.” SKDKnickerbocker announced Monday she'll be a Managing Director with the firm led by Dunn, the Obama administration's Communications Director in 2009. SKDKnickerbocker's “About” page boasts:
We helped Barack Obama by being the only firm in America to do direct mail and television advertising for his 2008 presidential victory. We helped SEIU fight to stave off millions of dollars of healthcare cuts.
Their “Case Studies” page, which touts work for a bunch of liberal candidates, highlights “FAR-REACHING ROLE IN ELECTION: Obama for America.” That page trumpets: “No other firm had as far-reaching a role in President Obama's election...with Anita Dunn serving as one of the top officials of the campaign and the firm producing both television advertising and direct mail for the campaign.”
Revolving Door Spins as Peter Orszag Takes NYT Columnist Gig
By Lachlan Markay | September 3, 2010 | 5:06 PM EDT
The massive revolving door between the mainstream media and the Obama administration has spun once again, this time as former White House budget director Peter Orszag signs on as a New York Times op/ed columnist.

Orszag is the eighteenth individual (that we know of) to transition between the White House and the mainstream press. He will surely not be the last. That amazingly high number again underscores the ideological similarities between members of the Obama administration and members of the press.

The New York Times Co. broke the news in a press release today:

CNN Veteran Andrew Breslau Takes Helm at Far-Left Nation Institute
By Brent Baker | August 20, 2010 | 11:35 AM EDT
Andrew Breslau, who for eight years ending in 2006 toiled at CNN “as a senior manager and producer,” has been named President of New York City-based The Nation Institute, affiliated with the far-left The Nation magazine run by frequent MSNBC guest Katrina vanden Heuvel, and home to Christopher Hayes, Rachel Maddow's fill-in host.

The institute's August 18 press release described Breslau's CNN duties: “Tasked with managing a team of journalists covering the U.S economy, he also helped cover events overseas that ranged from the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.”

Prior to joining CNN, Breslau was quite active with a series of left-wing enterprises, starting in the mid-1980s writing for Mother Jones magazine and then helping to found Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting as its first associate director, the release from the institute's Communications Director, Ruth Baldwin, recounted.
AP White House Reporter Loven Jumps to Liberal Democratic Political PR/Lobbying Shop
By Brent Baker | August 12, 2010 | 12:55 PM EDT
Jennifer Loven, an 18-year AP veteran and the wire service's chief White House correspondent, has decided to put her communications talents to work for The Glover Park Group, a DC-based “strategic communications firm” founded in 2001 by a bunch of Clinton and Gore staffers, most prominently Joe Lockhart, who found themselves unemployed after the 2000 election. She'll be “Managing Director in its Public Affairs practice,” a Thursday press release from the Glover Park Group, plugged by Politico's Mike Allen, announced.

She's the second President in a row of the White House Correspondents' Association to leave journalism for a left-wing, or at least left-leaning, lobbying outfit. In June, Bloomberg's White House reporter, Ed Chen, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, jumped to the Natural Resources Defense Council as Federal Communications Director. (My complete Obama-journalism revolving door list.) Loven held the WHCA position for 2008-2009 and was succeeded by Chen.

Amongst the clients touted on the Glover Park Group's Web site: American Civil Liberties Union, Alliance for Climate Protection, Campaign for Women's Lives, Better World Campaign and the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty. They also list some corporate clients, but no conservative activist groups.
Embarrassed Obama White House Social Secretary Lands Position Running Media Firm
By Brent Baker | August 10, 2010 | 11:53 PM EDT
A second Obama administration veteran has landed in a media firm’s executive suite. Two months after ObamaCare’s chief propagandist, ex-ABC and CBS correspondent Linda Douglass, became Vice President of the Atlantic Media Company, Michael Calderone reported Tuesday afternoon on “The Upshot” Yahoo News blog:
Former White House social secretary Desirée Rogers has been named chief executive of Johnson Publishing Company, billed as “the world's largest African-American owned-and-operated publishing company.” JPC publishes both Ebony and Jet magazines.
The news about Rogers came the very week MSNBC entered a partnership with the Chicago-based Ebony magazine to air joint reports on education policy, culminating in a two-hour special at noon EDT this Sunday: “Making the Grade.”

Calderon reminded readers that “Rogers, a former corporate executive and a Chicago friend of the Obama family, resigned in February from her position as the first African-American social secretary” after she “came under fire during her White House tenure after socialites-turned-reality-TV stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi famously crashed a state dinner.”
Larry King Explains Decision to End CNN Show -- Says It Wasn’t Pressure from the Media
By Jeff Poor | June 30, 2010 | 12:58 AM EDT

First it was long-time anchor Lou Dobbs, who retired last fall from CNN. Now another fixture of the network will soon be playing another role in the cable news universe.

On CNN's June 29 "Larry King Live," host Larry King, who had never been terribly friendly with conservative guests, announced his decision he would be giving up his show this fall.

"Before I start the show tonight, I want to share some personal news with you," King said. "Twenty-five years ago, I sat across this table from New York Gov. Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast ever of ‘Larry King Live.' And now, decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I'd like to end ‘Larry King Live,' the nightly show that -- this fall and CNN has graciously accepted to agree to, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games."

Arizona Writer Latest Journalist to Pass Through Media-Democrat Revolving Door
By Matt Robare | June 29, 2010 | 5:07 PM EDT
John DoughertyInvestigative journalist John Dougherty of Arizona deserves a hand from everyone concerned with liberal media bias, because he has given it up. Dougherty, pictured right in a photo from his website, has, shall we say, crossed the border from being biassed to seeking the Democratic nomination for US Senate.

In the late 80's he was involved with uncovering Charles Keating's use of campaign contributions to five senators-including John McCain, whom Dougherty would most likely face in an election-in exchange for putting pressure on banking regulators. He also investigated Governor Fife Symington, polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and Sherrif Joe Arpaio.

Whatever else he has done in the past, Dougherty has already succesfully morphed into a politician, writing a blog for the Huffington Post on illegal immigration and its relationship to crime that directly contradicts the conclusions he reached in an article he wrote for the High County News.