daswig:
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Are there statutorily defined definitions of who composes "the press" and who does not?
I've had articles published in various small newspapers (and no, they were not editorials or letters to the editors). Does that mean I'm a member of the press? How about if I'm working on an article? Is a freelance reporter a member of "the press"? Do you have to be published to be a member of "the press"? Is there some secret press ID card or handshake that you have to have or know?
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Perhaps, perhaps not. However, I think it is sensible to assume that White House Press Corps reporters should have journalistic credentials or write for a real news source. GannonGuckert went to a two-day "leadership" school for right wing "journalists." Additionally, he was denied access to the Congressional Press Corps because Congress did not consider him a legitimate reporter. If he can't get access to the Congressional Press Corps, how can he get in to the White House Press Corps?
Let Maureen Dowd, New York Times editorialist, and someone I think we can all describe as a member of the press, explain:
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I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the "Barberini Faun" is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?
At first when I tried to complain about not getting my pass renewed, even though I'd been covering presidents and first ladies since 1986, no one called me back. Finally, when Mr. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months.
In an era when security concerns are paramount, what kind of Secret Service background check did James Guckert get so he could saunter into the West Wing every day under an assumed name while he was doing full-frontal advertising for stud services for $1,200 a weekend? He used a driver's license that said James Guckert to get into the White House, then, once inside, switched to his alter ego, asking questions as Jeff Gannon.
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All this story shows is how desperate some on the left are. And I can't express how ironic I find it that the left is up in arms about a guy who had a gay-oriented website being a member of "the press". Their behavior makes it seem like they think there's something WRONG with homosexuality or commerical porn websites. I guess it's kind of like Packwood...NOW loved him, even when he was serially abusing women.
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I love it when the pot calls the kettle homophobic. Somehow, wondering how a gay male prostitute got into the White House Press Corps makes me homophobic. Notice the way you call the websites on which he prostituted himself "gay-oriented websites." I believe gay-oriented websites may possibly be created for the express purpose of prostituting someone, or may not. In GannonGuckert's case, it was. THIS is what people pointed out; not the fact that it had a gay theme. The same arguments apply to porn websites; I frequent the TFP forums and accuse GannonGuckert of being sleaze; that does not make me hypocritical. In fact, I wouldn't give one damn about GannonGuckert's websites if they were strictly a gay-themed porn site - I only care that he used them to prostitute himself.
Additionally, you are missing several of the main points. Including, but not limited to:
1) How did this fake journalist get into the White House despite the fact that he had no credentials, was denied access to the Congressional Press Corps, used a fake name, owed outstanding taxes, and ran a website on which he prostituted himself?
2) Why did it appear that he was picked to ask stupid, inane and biased questions when the real press corps around him was getting "tough?"
3) How did he get the information about Valerie Plame's secret identity as a CIA agent and the fake report insinuating that she suggested her husband investigate concerns over yellowcake from Niger? Who gave it to him? Why? How is he involved?
4) Was the White House involved in getting him into the White House Press Corps in order to have him ask easy questions? There doesn't seem to be a way in which he could not have a background check without orders from the top ordering that there not be one.
5) Is GannonGuckert just another example of the White House trying to secretly influence the fourth estate through such means as creating propaganda that appears to be a news report, ordering the Social Security Administration to tell recipients that there won't be any money for them, and paying journalists such as Armstrong Williams money to advocate for policies on their behalf without disclosing the arrangement?
I don't think those above questions are desperate in nature or relate to an unimportant issue. The question is, why do you?