The nation's elite journalists are forever denying that they have a liberal bias. Of course, the evidence in their reporting proves that claim false every day. One other thing belies their claims--the revolving door between the self-described "mainstream media" and Democrats. There simply is nothing like it for conservatives and Republicans looking to get into elite journalism.
The latest example of this phenomenon comes from Beltway insider publication Politico where the revolving door spun both directions on the same day with one reporter leaving the paper to work for Democrats in Arizona and another coming into the paper fresh from a gig working with Senate Democrats.
According to gossip website FishbowlDC, the new hire, Elizabeth Breckenridge, is joining Politico after working on Capitol Hill for almost five years in the offices of Democratic senators Evan Bayh and Joe Manchin. She will be working as "director of administration" for the paper. It's unclear what this position entails, I hope it's not involved with hiring new employees for Politico.
Breckenridge isn't the only lefty joining up at Politico. Announced on the same day was new lobbying reporter Dave Levinthal who formerly worked for the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit group tracking money in politics funded in part by left-wing billionaire George Soros.
Leaving the paper is reporter Andy Barr who is departing to work for the Democratic party in Arizona, according to the Daily Caller. Barr has penned numerous stories about Republicans, including former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
As would be expected, Politico editor-in-chief John Harris employed the usual tropes in his defense of the publication, denying that it has a liberal bias:
Barr is not the first Politico reporter to leave for a Democratic gig. Congressional reporter Jonathan Allen left Politico in 2009 to work as an aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a Florida Democrat, but he returned to Politico in 2010.
Politico’s editor-in-chief, John Harris, responded to questions about Barr’s departure, writing in an email that the website’s management does not “worry about someone’s personal ideology so long as it is understood that their responsibilities at POLITICO mean leaving personal views at the door.”
“Andy did that, and had a very good reputation for professionalism with colleagues, sources, and readers,” he told TheDC.
“One of our first and most successful hires is someone who in a previous phase of his career worked as an aide for Republicans,” he said, “and we do have some folks who have written for more ideological platforms on right and left.”
But have any left Politico to work for a Republican? “I don’t know of any, but haven’t made any effort to keep track of where folks land,” Harris said.
Presumably Harris is referring to Jonathan Martin, a reporter and blogger for the paper who formerly worked for several Republican politicians in the state of Virginia. No doubt Martin must be delighted to be a token at Politico in the same way that John Stossel used to be at ABC News.
The revolving door between the left and the self-described mainstream media is a very real problem. Since Barack Obama became president, we have seen 19 separate instances of the door spinning freely including:
- Former Time reporter Jay Carney becoming press secretary for President Obama
- Disgraced former New York governor Eliot Spitzer being given a prime-time television show on CNN
- The exposure of a secret spin society email group called "Journo-list" which provided a private space for left-wing reporters and activists to discuss how to shape the news
- Washington Post reporter Shailagh Murray leaving the paper to work as communications director for vice president Joe Biden
- CNN senior manager and producer Andrew Breslau leaving the network to head up the far-left Nation Institute
- Former "Dateline" anchor Jane Pauley who toured the country campaigning on Obama's behalf
- Former Obamacare communications director Linda Douglass returning back to journalism as a vice president at the Atlantic Media group. Prior to her working to spin healthcare, she worked at the Atlantic and also as a correspondent for ABC and CBS.
- Los Angeles Times political writer Peter Gosselin quitting journalism to write speeches for Treasury secretary Tim Geithner
For a more updated and lengthy list, please see these two links (1, 2).
Hat tip: Say Anything.
