Jan 26, 2005

Now That's Just Mean

by Liberty and Power

Were they really worried that [Maggie] Gallagher would come out for free love without the cash incentive? Neither she nor [Armstrong] Williams is really known for their independent streak. In Gallagher's case -- and to some degree in Williams' too -- this seems less like a matter of payola than a Bush administration make-work program for third-tier GOP pundits.

Williams is not alone. My favorite passage:

Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal [i.e., his $300 million"marriage initiative"]. ...
"Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it?" Gallagher said yesterday."I don't know. You tell me." She said she would have"been happy to tell anyone who called me" about the contract but that"frankly, it never occurred to me" to disclose it.
Later in the day, Gallagher filed a column in which she said that"I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it. My apologies to my readers."

Forgetful Maggie. Not a quality that's terribly helpful to a journalist.

Or to a"journalist." Hmm...with or without the quotes? I don't know. You tell me.