March 11, 2013

"Although often thought of as the most prestigious beat in political journalism, the White House is increasingly seen as a newsless land of 'stenographers'..."

"... a dead end for young, ambitious reporters hoping to carve out a niche, and a constant target of criticism by the partisan public. Veteran members of the White House press corps bristle at the criticisms, even as they acknowledge the beat has lost some of its allure as the obstacles have increased."

Lame.

39 comments:

John said...

Propaganda is boring. When you refuse to actually cover the story, people tend to ignore you. They have no one but themselves to blame.

pm317 said...

Yeah, the 'stenographers' were heralding Obama's charm offensive courting the republicans in the last couple of days. The funny thing though is that, everyone I heard down to the CBS reporter used the line "Obama's charm offensive" as if they were handed the talking points from you know where. Whores that is what they are.

MadisonMan said...

Rather than bristling, maybe they should report.

pm317 said...

*CBS reporter* on the radio..

Chip S. said...

House of Cards said it first.

bagoh20 said...

Well, you do need to ask interesting questions once in a while. You need to decide if you work for the Kings court or the public. Make a choice.

chickelit said...

The WH Press Corpse is either complicit or cowed regarding the dearth of news they report. Neither possibility reflects well.

I still can't forgive Jake Tapper's post-Benghazi tweet (he may have erased it) paraphrasing 'you wouldn't like a hostile WHPC facing a President Romney.'

bagoh20 said...

They really are getting bummed about Obama not buying the cow. Listen to your mother.

tree hugging sister said...

Look in the mirror, Evil Queens.

Humperdink said...

Think about it. How would you like to be lectured by that sniveling, snot-nosed little kid Jay Carney?

Every response is filled with half-truths or outright lies. The kicker is the perpetual snark look on his face.

SteveR said...

How ironic, this isn't news.

bagoh20 said...

They should report on what sniveling toadies the other reporters in the pool are. That would get me reading.

edutcher said...

It would be less of a dead end if they'd stop fellating the guy they're supposed to be covering.

As opposed to covering for him.

tim maguire said...

We've been seeing that a lot lately, haven't we? Media responding to criticism by denying there's a problem. They've completely lost the talent for introspection.

Irene said...

Remember Bush's poodles? This White House has an entire pack of poodles.

Joe said...

Perhaps if they actually practiced journalism...

KCFleming said...

Why do they even send someone at all?

Just print then WH press release as is.

Not like you'll do anything else.

Sorun said...

Re-typing White House press releases is a secretary's job, not a stenographer's.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Partisan public?

Journalism is dead.

effinayright said...

The phrase "hired claque" comes to mind....

I sincerely hope that the future records the names of these feckless journos, and makes them unemployable once Teh Won is given a sendoff by thousands of Americans mooning him as he travels down Pennsylvania behind his successor in the Inaugural Parade.

kentuckyliz said...

Reporters don't fellate.

Only stenographers fellate.

Anonymous said...

The sad thing is they don't seem to be smart enough to want to change it.

Phil 314 said...

What was it that Bobby Knight said about rape?

Mark Daniels said...

As I recall, this has often been the thinking of those "exiled" to the White House, even by those who used the beat to leverage themselves to journalistic stardom. I'm going back fifty years.

David said...

But you get to be in the same room with the President!

Once in a while.

Kirk Parker said...

MadMan,

"Rather than bristling, maybe they should report. "

But that assumes they actually know how.

Joe Schmoe said...

When everyone's thinking the same thing, there's not a lot of thinking going on.

mariner said...

One might think there is an opportunity here for some hard-hitting factual reporting, since no one there is actually doing any.

But if one thought that, one would not be a "journalist".

George M. Spencer said...

As a college intern, I saw the White House press corps in action when Pres. Carter visited Egypt in 1979.

They sat in a hotel ballroom smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, waiting for someone from the Press Office to emerge carrying a basket and dump a press release on a table.

Then they would mosey up like cattle to a bale of hay, take the paper back to their typewriters, and rewrite the press release.

A few lucky ones got a personal briefing from Jody Powell, the press secretary.

The hotel ballroom, incidentally, was next to the hotel bar.

There was absolutely no need for any of these folks to be on the trip, except as a PR hoax for their newspapers.

Larry J said...

If they actually did their jobs as reporters instead of giving Obama the longest media blowjob in history, then perhaps people would show them some respect.

gerry said...

The assholes got what they wished for, a president they could embrace, protect, and embellish.

They are discovering they have become worthless pond floaters.

ed said...

"This is the White House Press Room! There's no news in the White House Press Room!"

Apologies to Dr. Strangelove.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Most of us here noticed this about five years ago when the Dem primary started and there were no hard questions ever for Obama or Hillary!

AllenS said...

They are practicing journOlism. They have been, from around the year 2007.

tiger said...

If the White House beat has become this way and the reporters feel like stenographers it is because they have let it happen and have no one to blame but themselves.

Anthony said...

Couple of weeks ago Dennis Miller said something to the effect that the WHPC has become such a bunch of lap dogs that the Administration should just make Cesar Millan its press secretary.

glenn said...

Hmmm .. stenographers. If the shoe fits put it on and wear it guys.

Paul said...

"as the obstacles have increased."

Poor little reporters. 'Obstacles increased'. Boo hoo.

What obstacles? Obama invites?

Lame is the least one can say about the MSM. Corrupt is more accurate.

MarkD said...

Woodward, last time I checked, was not the first target of a domestic drone strike. What do these self-neutered poodles want for not doing their job?