Politico’s Mike Allen apologizes in the middle of his Monday ”Playbook” column (20 paragraphs in) that he shouldn’t have promised Hillary PR operative Phillippe Reines two years ago that he could host Chelsea Clinton at a Politico brunch with questions approved in advance: “No one besides me would ask her a question, and you and I would agree on them precisely in advance....The interview would be “no-surprises’”.
Gawker exposed the Stupid Journalist Trick, but Allen’s admission twisted into a pretzel, insisting against the hard evidence that this could have never happened: “I made an offer of questions, which we would never, ever do here at Politico!” (Bolds are his:)
MY BAD! You may have missed a Gawker post last week that rightly took me to task for something clumsy I wrote in an email to Philippe Reines in 2013, seeking an interview with Chelsea Clinton at a POLITICO brunch. In the email, I said I’d agree to the questions in advance. I have never done that, and would never do that. POLITICO has a policy against it, and it would make for a boring event. As you know from attending our events (or can tell by clicking on any of the videos on our website), they’re spontaneous, conversational and news-driven. Without stunts or grandstanding, we challenge guests to address newsworthy topics, and to be original, relevant and revelatory. A scripted back-and-forth would be a snore.
We didn’t do the interview with Chelsea Clinton, and would never clear our questions. But the email makes me cringe, because I should never have suggested we would. We retain full, unambiguous editorial control over our events and questioning. My bond with readers and newsmakers is built on knowing I don’t pull punches. So I wanted to share my take on this, and make sure our policy is clear.
It would be nice to call out Chelsea Clinton here -- as a journalist, she should know better -- but she was never really a journalist at NBC. She was a walking, talking NBC favor to the Clintons. Here again is precisely what Allen e-mailed to Reines, contradicting everything above:
This would be a way to send a message during inaugural week: No one besides me would ask her a question, and you and I would agree on them precisely in advance. This would be a relaxed conversation, and our innovative format (like a speedy Playbook Breakfast) always gets heavy social-media pickup. The interview would be “no-surprises”: I would work with you on topics, and would start with anything she wants to cover or make news on. Quicker than a network hit, and reaching an audience you care about with no risk.
In a later e-mail, Mike “we would never negotiate” Allen starts negotiating on the questions with Reines:
I was just hoping for your confidential advice on what topics they’re most interested in — what might maximize chances. I think this is something she would like: a way to send a message on a big weekend, but in a no-risk way, since they know I would stick to topics we agree on.
This only underlines something the Clintons never want underlined: precisely how many of their interviews come with all kinds of negotiated rules about what can and cannot be asked? Reporters want to deny it – unless the hard evidence comes out, and even then, most journalists would rather not show their cynical underbelly on these requests.
