The In-Crowd

Excellent post by Jay Rosen on the press reaction to the McChrystal interview in Rolling Stone, focusing on a very interesting little maneuver by Politico:

The Politico was so hopped up about the story that it took the extraordinary step of posting on its site a PDF of Rolling Stone’s article because Rolling Stone had not put it online fast enough. In one of the many articles The Politico ran about the episode the following observation was made by reporters Gordon Lubold and Carol E. Lee:

McChrystal, an expert on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, has long been thought to be uniquely qualified to lead in Afghanistan. But he is not known for being media savvy. Hastings, who has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for two years, according to the magazine, is not well-known within the Defense Department. And as a freelance reporter, Hastings would be considered a bigger risk to be given unfettered access, compared with a beat reporter, who would not risk burning bridges by publishing many of McChrystal’s remarks.

Now this seemed to several observers—and I was one—a reveal. Think about what the Politico is saying: an experienced beat reporter is less of a risk for a powerful figure like McChrystal because an experienced beat reporter would probably not want to “burn bridges” with key sources by telling the world what happens when those sources let their guard down.

He goes on to enumerate some of the outlets -- mostly online -- that picked it up. It's a very revealing little episode that sets out baldly what those outside the Beltway have been saying about the corporate press for a while: they are part of a club that doesn't include their audience -- known once upon a time as the "rubes" -- but does include the people they are supposed to be examining. He's right -- it's a tremendously revealing paragraph that soon disappeared, with a certain amount of stonewalling by Politico, followed by a lame excuse.

And be sure to watch the video of Jon Stewart's take-down of the press -- it's devastating:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
McChrystal's Balls - Honorable Discharge
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Maybe the Washington insiders will eventually realize that they have become little more than a source for satire. Not anytime soon, though, I think.

And then, for dessert, try this story by Susie Madrak about Dave Weigel. You know, WaPo seems to be batting a thousand so far -- in terms of getting rid of reporters and commentators who are actually doing their jobs.

Speaking of WaPo, check this out -- four days later, the pro-McChrystal side is calling "foul" and they don't even seem to realize how revealing their comments are:

A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, Air Force Lt. Col. Edward T. Sholtis, acknowledged that Hastings, like other reporters who have interviewed McChrystal over the past year, was not required to sign written ground rules. "We typically manage ground rules on a verbal basis," Sholtis said. "We trust in the professionalism of the people we're working with."

One man's professionalism is another man's sycophancy, and how typical of those in power: unwritten rules are pretty easy to manipulate, wouldn't you agree?