Froomkin’s World
By K. Daniel Glover | November 3, 2009
Dan Froomkin, the former quasi-White House watchdog for The Washington Post and current Obama administration lapdog at The Huffington Post, thinks all journalists should drop the pretense of objectivity as he did long ago.
Here's how he answered a query from the Democracy In America blog for The Economist when asked whether "the media should strive for objectivity in its reporting":
No. Journalists should strive for accuracy, and fairness. Objectivity is impossible, and is too often confused with balance. And the problem with balance is that we are not living in a balanced time. For instance, is it patently obvious that at this point in our history, the leading luminaries on one side of the American political spectrum are considerably less tethered to reality than those on the other side. Madly trying to split the difference, as so many of my mainstream-media colleagues feel impelled to do, does a disservice to the concept of the truth.
Froomkin is partially correct. Today's journalists have proven repeatedly that they are incapable of achieving the admittedly high standard of objectivity on a consisent basis. That's why I said earlier today that I would rather read the solid reporting of blogger-activists (regardless of their political leanings, by the way) than the work of journalists who say they are objective but behave otherwise.
Froomkin used to be one of the liberals I occasionally enjoyed reading for that reason. I knew he approached his journalism from a far-left perspective, but he was an aggressive watchdog. Then Barack Obama was elected president, and Froomkin went soft.
He still is. Froomkin's primary gripe about media coverage of Obama is that journalists, especially television networks, treat him like a celebrity and emphasize fluff over substance. He's right on both counts, but he's wrong about this:
This administration, I'm happy to say, is not unprecedentedly and spectacularly dishonest, incompetent and secretive, and therefore doesn't require the kind of courage to cover that the Bush-era White House press corps, to its shame, failed to summon. The unique and much less daunting challenge of covering this president is that he is such a celebrity.
Obama is so dishonest that he has been shouted down from the well of the U.S. House and called out by voters marching in the streets of Washington. The left-leaning Associated Press exposed Obama's lie, albeit reluctantly, about his healthcare plan not funding abortions. Liberal journalist George Stephanopoulous confronted the president about his amazing capacity for breaking promises.
And the list goes on. As Jim Geraghty has detailed regularly at The Campaign Spot, "All Barack Obama promises come with an expiration date. All of them."
Froomkin acknowledged as much in his Economist interview. "The Obama White House was a model of transparency ... for two, maybe three days," he said. "... Obama has been a terrible disappointment. Where’s the change?" Yet Froomkin still insists that Obama's team "is not unprecedentedly and spectacularly dishonest"? A watchdog can only reach such a conclusion if he is looking at the world from his master's lap.
Froomkin's distorted worldview is even more obvious when you consider his response to the White House's war with Fox News. The $5 million White House communications team has agreed to a cease fire for now but undoubtedly will pick another fight with Fox in the future -- and Froomkin clearly thinks they should. He parroted White House talking points to criticize journalists who dared defend Fox:
The Obama administration's recent characterization of Fox News is a long overdue acknowledgment of the obvious: Fox News is not a legitimate news organization -- indeed, after many years of serving as the research and messaging wing of the Republican Party, it has now gone beyond even that, to become the electronic evangelist of an ultra-partisan and non-reality-based world view.
... The litmus test is that the Obama White House is not upset at news gatherers for doing their job. What Obama and his aides are correctly pointing out is that the people working at Fox News are doing another job altogether.
Seriously? Froomkin has watched Major Garrett, who used to work and CNN, and honestly concluded that the Washington news he reports is illegitmate? Froomkin thinks Bret Baier and Chris Wallace are "doing another job altogether" on "Special Report" and "Fox News Sunday" than the anchors for other evening and Sunday news shows?
I don't believe it. It's far more likely that Froomkin, like the White House, is judging all of Fox News based on the success of Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and its other opinionated talk-show hosts.
But if that's true, Froomkin has no right to complain. Fox's talkers have done exactly what he has done, and what he wrongly believes even newsmen should do -- forsaken objectivity and balance as the gold standard of journalism. Froomkin lives in an Ivory Tower made of glass, so he's really in no position to be hurling stones at Fox News or advising other journalists how to do their jobs.
K. Daniel Glover is a project manager for Accuracy In Media. He has worked as an editor, writer and new media specialist in the Washington area since 1991, spending most of that time at National Journal and Congressional Quarterly.
7 Comments | Post a Comment
voxoreason…I very much enjoyed reading your commentary, and am in total agreement with you. And may GOD bless your son and keep him well, and bring him home safely to you.
Thank you, Diane. Your blessing is very much appreciated. The hardest part is trying to console my wife when she breaks out in tears from time to time. Never having carried or delivered a baby myself, I can’t even pretend to imagine how much she must ache as a mother who has…twice.
I wonder what Obama will tell his daughters when THEY grow older.
God bless.
Oh, you are so welcome! My heart goes out to you and your wife, and I will remember your son, and you and your wife in my daily prayers; just as I do with all of the other brave young men and women who serve our country, (as well as their parents). I cannot even imagine how difficult that it must be for both you and your wife to have that daily worry regarding your son’s safety ; but I am absolutely positive that I would also often be breaking into tears if I had a son, (or if one of my two daughters) was serving in the military inside a dangerous country; and I know that I would be worried every day of my life , no matter how hard I tried to keep the faith.
I also feel the desire to share something else with you which I have been upset about. And that is regarding Obama’s sloppy salutes to the military, and how he always seems to have such difficuty looking straight into the eyes of our military people and showing proper respect for them ! I think it is absolutely disgusting! Oh sure, he has the pretty words for them when he is giving a speach for the entire nation to hear; but his actions speak so much louder than words when he is doing such a sloppy job of addressing them properly in person, I think. I just wonder how many other people in this country take notice of his sloppy and lazy salutes when he exits Air Force One, (for example), and how he rarely even looks in the direction of the military man who is there waiting to give a proper salute to him ? Obama acts as if it is something that he is forced to do against his will, and acts as if he wishes that the military man was not even there. And I can just imagine that it is something else that he would like to change, as well as pledging to the American Flag, which he seems to also despise doing. I never will forget that picture of his hands folded in front of him, showing his arrogant defiance, (probably to send a message to other countries ), as everyone else on stage was properly saluting the American flag. I have often wished that someone from the media on FOX News would call some strong attention to his disgraceful behavior regarding these matters.
And I also often wonder just how most or all of our military men and women are truly feeling about their Commander in Chief by this time, for so many reasons. (?) As I have grown older and have been paying much closer attention to politics and to our representatives than ever before, I have also noticed that so many of the liberals in Washington seem to have very little respect for people in our military ...such as Barbara Boxer, Hillary, and the list goes on and on. And it makes me absolutely furious. Hope you won’t mind me sharing these observations of mine with you.
Take good care. Best regards…... Diane
PS….I also wonder what Obama will tell his daughters ? No doubt the history books will have already been filled with all sorts of wonderful things about their father. Sad to report (as a former teacher) that this has already been happening inside our govt schools, as you have probably heard and seen by now. Even during the election, the children in govt schools across this nation were being given books with chapters about Obama’s wonderful deeds ; but nothing whatsoever about McCain’s history. And then the children were instructed to write wonderful essays about Obama. Yes, even during the campaign period. (Long sad sigh here) Now they are singing hymns and praises of worship to him inside the schools. It is extremely disturbing and very scarey.
My brother and I, thanks to medical disqualifications, have never been able to serve in the military. Everyone else I knew among family and friends has served. The flag is precious to me and I am keenly aware of the cost to keep that flag. And the first thing that turned me off about Obama was during the primaries in a verified photo, you see others observing the flag. Everyone but Obama is either saluting or has hand over heart. Everyone but Obama. How dare he not honor the flag that my family and friends have paid blood, sweat, and tears for. How dare he not honor the flag for which Capt. McCain, US Army, endured endless hell in Viet Nam. So, it’s no wonder he doesn’t do a good job of saluting soldiers as he steps off of Marine One. Then, again, he spent much time in Indonesia going to a muslim school and was mentored by Frank Marshall Davis, a known communist who was under FBI investigation, which is documented in a 600 page file. Every president has submitted and original and complete birth certificate except for Obama. All that was submitted for him was a cert. of live birth, which is not the full birth certificate, it is simply a document that says the state of Hawaii recognizes that a male named Barack Obama was born. And that cert was published on the net by Daily Kos, not the US congress. To this day, the state of Hawaii has not released the full birth certificate and that is a fact. Nearly everyone Obama knows, by their own admissions and writings are socialists or communists, from Van Jones to Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers to John Holdren, science “csar,” who advocates one world government, like the one that will be formed by the Copenhagen Treaty, as revealed by Lord Christopher Monkton, former science advisor to former Prime Minister Thatcher. If he were to sign that treaty, which calls for the establishment of a global government allowed to seize 2 percent of the GDP of member nations, it would be effectively trying to sign away our sovereignty. That is, in my opinion, treason, and is an impeachable offense. The treaty would have to be ratified by 2/3 majority in senate, which would likely be impossible, just now. However, he could sneak around and try to get it in simple majority of both houses. If passed, it is still fixable because then it would be domestic law, which can be repealed.
But then, what does Obama know about saluting? He never served. Meanwhile, our troops are dying for lack of reinforcements because Obama can’t crap and get off the commode.
Post # 6 Thank you, Ron from Texas ! I appreciated reading, and absolutely agreed with all that you shared. And you are so right ! Not only is it amazing to me that anyone in this country voted for B.O. in the first place , but that we have not yet impeached him for so many reasons! Afterall, the “Chosen One” has been stomping all over our constitution on a daily basis ever since he took the oath of office ! He is a hypocrit and an imposter who is only pretending to care about America, while doing his best to destroy our freedoms under the Saul Alinsky and Karl Marx plan. WHY can’t every one wake up and see that? It is so obvious what he has been all about from the very beginning, with all of his Marxist ties and influences from people like Frank Marshall Davis and Rev Wright and Bill Ayers. It is unbelievable to me what is happening inside our country now ! I wish it was all a bad dream, and I could wake up and find that BO and his adminstration are not really real ! I have never been so fearful of a United States president and his czars and his advisors and administration in all my years ! To have even ONE representative in Washington working for a president, who is a Mao or Castro, or Chevez lover is way too much ! But Obama has managed to surround himself with a huge bunch of them who are doing their best to take America apart brick by brick, as well ! It is a terrible feeling to wonder if I have the lived the best years here in America and to feel fearful of what my children’s lives and my grandchildren’s lives will be like in the near future. Makes my heart ache for our entire country.
I was greatly upset the other day when I heard on the radio that BO stated that it was too expensive to send reinforcements to help the troops ! Guess you heard that ? Funny that he has never had any problem printing and spending money for all sorts of completely foolish nonesense; and giving bail outs to whoever he sees fit , but now complains about spending money to help our troops ? Makes me absolutely furious ! I can still remember BO saying that he believes that our military men who volunteer for the service should also volunteer to pay for their own health insurance ! Unbelievable ! I am totally convinced that he has absolutely no respect for our military men, or for anything or anyone else which stands for preserving Freedom !
And that Health Care bill and that Cap and Tax bill , and The Copenhagen treaty are all about destroying our freedoms, as well, I believe. I fear that we are going to witness America changing into a country that we will eventually will not even recognize. We are getting CHANGE with BO, alright ! And CHAINS is the kind of change that they desire for us ! I say prayers every day that all will be well, and I write to my Senators and congressmen and do whatever I can to help, but still wish I could do more. Feeling pretty helpless, and very worried these days, but trying to keep the faith.
My father and grandfathers and late husband also served in our military , and I was a military wife for awhile. I imagine that if they were all here right now that they would be extremely disapponted at who we have for a president and learning what people in govt are trying to do to Americans. It’s shameful ! Anyway, thanks to your family for serving our country. And may GOD continue to BLESS AMERICA !
And Best regards to you ! Diane
November 5 at 9:24 am | #1 | Link
The best defense is a good offense. Surely this is posted somewhere in the White House. Fromkin clearly has assumed the duties of an apologist, so he requires a good offense. Slim pickin’s there, huh?
Obama has simply said too many things caught on tape, then talked out of the other side of his mouth in an attempt to blot out this “tape trail.” (He’s erased the paper trail as much as possible, it would seem, but still managed to leave a trail of crumbs, which the right follows to get to the truth).
The irony is all of this is that Americans get cognitive dissonance from hearing issues from two views: the taped version that they can see with their own eyes/hear with their own ears, or believe what Obama says…and on which particular day he says it, as his “view” of the issue du juor is, over time, shifting sands.
Bill Clinton, once described as “an extremely good liar, did you know that?; extremely good” (by a democrat!) early on, must enjoy losing this particular game to Obama, who is world class at telling different audiences whatever they want to hear about the same issues. (He requires the teleprompters to keep his different versions of his views separate.)
Pat Paulsen got it right all those years ago on “The Smothers Brothers Show,” where he portrayed a politician who began by speaking out of one side of his mouth and, through the miracle of special effects, then began talking out of both sides of his mouth.
Obama doesn’t take a stand on an issue so much as straddle it like a stream with one foot on each side, eg, the “public option”: yes, no, and maybe (in case he loses his balance and ends up in the stream).
I guess it takes a lifetime of hard work and determination to develop all of his terrorist and Marxist friends (yup, on tape: who ya gonna believe?), then fill the White House with Marxists and his other barnyard friends entrenched in positions as “czars” where they require no approval by congress, but can essentially make up laws (cut bailout co’s officers pay and bonuses by 50-90%? if they say so!) which slip right on through. They seem to be getting paid about $150,000 per year (give or take) to manipulate our economy. Van Jones wasn’t the tip of the iceberg: he was a snowflake on top of the iceberg.
Helping the big banks? Muslims don’t believe in interest payments under Sharia Law, or so I’ve read. Meanwhile, other countries are not reproducing at a rate high enough to replace themselves, so we’re moving toward a world in which Islam is the dominant religion. Europe is in bigger trouble than we are as they got Muslim immigrants, where we got Mexican immigrants, who, as Americans, would allow us to replace ourselves by reproduction, despite abortion figures.
And all of these dedicated socialists seem to be wealthy. Obama and Nancy Pelosi are neither one hard up for money. And they’re gonna turn over a big part of their fortunes for “income equality” or some such nonsense? I think not. “1984” and it’s definition of “power.”
Americans seem to be waking up, but still have the option of hitting the snooze alarm (following the news is such a bother) and going back to sleep. Obamacare will be a much more effective alarm clock. Jimmy Carter was a one-termer, and Obama seems to be following his lead in this respect.
He’s black? Not a problem: he’s also commie red, which is a BIG problem. “Pinko” understates it.
I can post my views at this point in time. “Net neutrality” should take care of this “problem.” Catchy, if totally misleading title, no? (I think it’s the alliteration.)
The past is being rewritten already. How did Orwell put it? “He who controls the present controls the past. He who controls the past controls the future.” (Might be “They.”)I think that’s pretty close. The past is being rewritten already.
I may not live to see this brave new world, but my children probably will…if my son makes it home from Afghanistan (after pulling a tour in Iraq).
Enjoy your game of golf, Mr President.