Appearing on MSNBC’s Hardball last night, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell pulled back the curtain on the Potemkin press coverage of Barack Obama’s visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. Newsbusters has the video and transcript:
MITCHELL: Let me just say something about the message management. He didn’t have reporters with him, he didn’t have a press pool, he didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in. You’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call fake interviews, because they’re not interviews from a journalist. So, there’s a real press issue here. Politically it’s smart as can be. But we’ve not seen a presidential candidate do this, in my recollection, ever before.
***
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about access to the troops, Andrea. A lot of African-American faces over there, very happy, delighted faces. Is that a representation of the percentage of servicepeople who are African-American, or did they all choose to join someone they like, apparently? What’s the story?
MITCHELL: I can’t really say that. Being a reporter who was not present in any of those situations, I just cannot report on what was edited out, what was, you know, on the sidelines. That’s my issue. We don’t know what we are seeing.
At the aptly-named Crooks & Liars, John Amato is aghast:
Is the military not capable of performing interviews? Where does she draw the line? Saying they are “fake interviews†really goes too far.
Amato once decried the use of the troops as propaganda tools. Amato used to rail about alleged DoD propaganda. This is not the John Amato I knew, though it is a change I can believe in.
Consider this story in the context of: excluding from the trip New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza, whose Obama profile was the reason for the magazine cover Camp Obama complained about for days; excluding the foreign press; taking an “uncompromising approach†to when and where he would grant interviews to the network news anchors on the trip; complaining about the New York Times analysis of its own most recent poll; stonewalling the press to this day about the black liberation theology of his longtime church; stonewalling the press on his relationship with convicted fraud and real-estate partner Tony Rezko; walking out on a press conference after eight questions, and so on.
Academics like Jay Rosen like to write about how the Bush Administration treat the press as illegitimate. The New York Times, PBS, Salon and others have all clicked their tongues over government-produced video news releases broadcast as news.  When Barack Obama and does it? And our television networks all join in? Crickets.
(h/t Memeorandum.)
Update: HotAir-lanche!
Great post, Karl.
He’s the boy in the bubble.
<MITCHELL: I can’t really say that. Being a reporter who was not present in any of those situations, I just cannot report on what was edited out, what was, you know, on the sidelines. That’s my issue. <<>>>.
Poor , Poor, Andrea, she was not there, she could not see the plastic turkey. But at least your husband did something good for Americans, participated in screwing them up. So, stfu, bitch
Sashal: the “plastic turkey” story was a lie. Look it up.
When hf shows up…..
http://picasaweb.google.com/mayadbee/Public/photo#5225616269172865522
“So, stfu, bitch”
Oooooo, can’t have anyone telling the truth about the Messiah, eh, satch?
When Barack Obama and does it? And our television networks all join in?
Crickets.Applause!
Or applauding crickets. Applauding, snickering crickets.
The most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate uses the military as a filter to boost his military balliness? Ye gods, he’s brilliant.
Can it be that a leftist like Obama can deprive the MSM of coverage abilities, depriving it of “toughness” credibility, while giving the military press increased cred and prestige? And doing so while being the annointed one, the one for whom the MSM is already in the can?
I’m making too much of this. But it would be fun.
Neat idea, run for president by acting like one. I can see it not working though.
sashal
If you want to bash Mitchell, go ahead and try, but can you possibly do it without lying?
Barry is scared shitless by anything but his adoring, syphocant pet reporters..and even then he can’t let those ankle lickers around where he might be off script (ratings rule).
Speaking of those excluded, Chris Wallace asked for a spot on the trip and never got the courtesy of a reply. I can’t imagine why the Senator doesn’t want to talk to Mr. Wallace.
Again I proclaim it loud and long:
CLINTON PRESS RELATIONS MANUAL: WRIT LARGE
thanks, Darleen,for letting me to bash her and many others so called journos, who forgot how to do their job and became mouthpieces and stenographers to the powerful.
Where are the real good ones?
Not so many left…
SBP, turkey or not, you’ve got my drift about photoshops and Potemkin villages, now and then, who and how…..
It’s actually worse than Bubba, BJ–what you are seeing here is a manifestation of “Gee, this is too hard!” Just imagine what happens if the balloon goes up on this guy’s watch or if there is a mini-Watergate type scandal.
Yeah, I know–I said “if”. Heh.
Bless her heart! Mitchell just shocked some reality into the so-called reality-based community.
Nice posting!
parsing Mitchell’s statement just a tad – she said “and what some would call fake interviews, because they’re not interviews from a journalist”
John Amato is apparently not the John Amato that he knew.
Or perhaps John Amato is not the person he was waiting for.
–
My personal “Ye Gods!” moment from a media type was on a Philly sportstalk station. The host had long been bashing Bush, lobbying for Kerry and then Clinton (yes, it’s a sportstalk format). Once he saw what Olbermann, Mathews, et al. were doing to Hillary! he started bemoaning the sudden lack of objectivity and the sudden appearance of bias in the coverage.
Gee, ya think?
This host somehow managed to convince himself that Olbermann and Matthews – on their very attempt at it – were trying to promote one candidate over another.
what.a.dope.
Obama to military interviewer: “Ask any question you want.”
Unsaid but undertood by military interviewer: I might be your boss in 6 months.
Dan: “He’s the boy in the bubble.”
/Moops!
SBP, turkey or not, you’ve got my drift
I’ve got the drift that you can’t be bothered with simple fact-checking, and that you’re gullible enough to swallow any lie, no matter how far-fetched.
But then, you’re an Obama voter, aren’t you?
Yeah, Andrea seemed pretty pissed when I watched this yesterday. That didn’t stop Matthews from going on and on about Obama’s 3-pointer though.
And I loved his question about the overwhelming number of black service people in the photos. Sounds like he’s been listening to Rangel.
Well, MayBee, that was the only place they could be, what with the lack of economic opportunity in AmeriKKKa.
Matthews has offically graduated from tool to toolbox.
AUDREY MITCHEL UR RACIST!
For the record, here is the New York Times correction of the plastic turkey story.
You nasty man, BJ. Wouldn’t that result in a lot of muffled gurgling?
I wonder if all of this attention on his trip abroad has made him reconsider what it would do for Ahmadinejad, Castro, and Chavez to have a similar photo-op meeting with President Obama.
That would be an interesting question.
Another would be why he didn’t schedule time with Ahmadinejad on this particular trip.
Karl, please close the <anchor> tag in #22.
As for black faces behind Obama — the military doesn’t assign people to be spear-carriers for politicians. If you’re in the Army and something like that comes up, it’s your choice whether to attend or not. They do encourage people to attend and make it a good show, but nobody’s instructed to participate.
So this is nothing but a moderately concrete example of “the blacks will vote for Obama regardless”. It pisses me off. The military is one of the few places in American society where a genuine, and generally successful, effort at doing things without regard to race. If Obama’s campaign succeeds in dividing the military back into black and white factions, different treatment will inevitably follow.
Regards,
Ric
Be quiet, or the cute little bunny dies!
Obama was his own fake turkey.
oh. Why can’t I just sit here with a pancake on my head?
I have no answer for you little bunny.
Obama cannot hide for long. In the first instance, he likes the sound of his own voice too much. He has been and will further expose himself to scrutiny. Most everyone will see his emptiness before the campaign is over, he will make sure of this. He is his own undoing. All hail Obama, the source of our salvation from Obama.
#25: Ric,
It was not for lack of trying to close the anchor tag. It was a very bad time to have bad site access.
Karl, I do hear you. There was also an access glitch from this end.
Sdferr, you forget something, or perhaps haven’t noticed. None of those people believes the President actually does anything. It’s a prize, like the Heisman trophy or a Super Bowl ring. After it’s awarded everybody goes home to normality.
Regards,
Ric
Yeah. It really doesn’t work that way, left or right.
Watch out, folks. BJ the Oppressor is going all caps on you guys. Stand back, it is about to blow !!!!!!!!!eleventy!!
oh. Why can’t I just sit here with a pancake on my head?
You are killing me, happy. I am going to have to go buy some milk chocolate icing for lunch.
Racists.
It is black, Ric, out there on the horizon. An awful storm is building. It may, no, it probably will come to sweep us away. We should expect the worst, if not utter annihilation, something very bad indeed.
Better?
Mitchell just shocked some reality into the so-called reality-based community
Indeed. Andrea isn’t following Hamsher’s Rule.
—
Obama was his own fake turkey.
Heh.
RTO #32:
That’s an interesting assertion. I’m curious: Why don’t you think that works that way?
Pardon a non-military guy’s ignorance of this.
hf: Hah, duh poor wittle bunnie!
JD; lean closer … capist!
Bumperstickerist: Which one of the many tools on Philly sports talk radio (which I rarely listen to anymore) was running that crap. Was it Eskin on WIP? It would fit his transcendent toolness. He once said that he wanted to ban all guns from all homes. Hunters would be severely restricted and would have to pick up their weapons at gun centers.
Which kind of explains why I don’t listen anymore.
# 27, Karl. Excellent, lol.
And I love it that you get it that is not about actual turkey per se….
“Academics like Jay Rosen like to write about how the Bush Administration treat the press as illegitimate.”
Yep, this is yet another facet of the strawman created by the left that they thought described Bush but is right now embodied in Barry Obama.
It’s amazing how much this karmic boomerang is making them look idiotic.
The impact that the President has/can have on the carreer of some SSG is minimal.
Theoretically it could happen, but in real life, there are too many layers between one party and the other, and most of those layers are designed to look out for the interests of the little guy.
If such pressure were to be brought to bear, it *would* create a scandal and higher echelons would inform the pressor of that fact. No future in it.
RTO Trainer, I take back my comment. In addition to you explanation, I should know that a serviceman has more integrity, and a lot less fear, than your average journalist.
As for black faces behind Obama  the military doesn’t assign people to be spear-carriers for politicians.
Heh.
Sometimes they will ask “who wants to meet Senator so-and-so.” I imagine that a lot of the black troops volunteered.
Comment by baldilocks on 7/22 @ 9:51 am #
As for black faces behind Obama  the military doesn’t assign people to be spear-carriers for politicians.
Did anyone notice how racist that statement is???
[…] at Protein Wisdom has a brief but heavily annotated commentary, of which this is the concluding ‘graph : Academics like Jay Rosen like to write about how […]
[…] at Protein Wisdom has a brief but heavily annotated commentary, of which this is the concluding ‘graph : Academics like Jay Rosen like to write about how […]
#43: Did anyone notice how racist that statement is???
Did anyone notice how racist you are for noticing it?
The press has caught up with Obama now, and TIME Magazine is there to provide the hard-hitting details.
Karen Tumulty:
There was room for her on the plane, but not the likes of Ryan Lizza.
The name “Mr. Pink” sounds slightly racist. It is racist obviously against brown and black people. Perhaps even against people that are part Native American (white + red = ???). It may even be racist against white people, because some white people are kind of piggy pink.
It also sounds sexist. And possibly too pro-lesbian.
Juliette,
Oh, yeah. There can be some fairly subtle pressure — “We need a good turnout for the meet with Senny-tor Phogbound and General Cornpone.” (Damn, I miss Al Kapp.) But it’s never “you, you, and you” or “Bravo of the 135th will report in Class As as backdrop for the photographers.” The guys in the pictures were the ones who wanted to be there.
Regards,
Ric
Come-on MayBee! Stick the tag on her!
Serious Journalist Karen Tumulty.
Sometimes they will ask “who wants to meet Senator so-and-so.†I imagine that a lot of the black troops volunteered.
If they throw in a snack they’d have me there (in law school the school would offer a snack in order to get students to listen to the speaker).
Ha, Sdferr!
Obama is mobilizing his PressCorps.
Actually I stole this name from the movie Resevior Dogs, As such, any racist intent is to be blamed solely on Quentin Tarantino.
Is that a representation of the percentage of servicepeople who are African-American
Maybe and maybe not Chris. The best representation of the percentage of servicepeople who are African-American is the actual percentage. And as a reporter, there’s a chance you could find that info out. But, you’re an idiot.
I knew that, Mr. Pink. That is a great, sick movie.
Is it safe to come out and play yet?
spear-carrier
Did anyone notice how racist that statement is???
That’s what my ‘heh’ was about. And I happen to be a spear-carrier, in *two* senses of the word.
“Oh, quit you bitching!”
“Easy for you to say, Mr. Black, you’ve got a cool name.”
Is it safe to come out and play yet?
MichellO will let you know when.
[…] Macsmind: Revealing the inner Obama Newsbusters: Andrea Mitchell blows the whistle on media worship from Obama. Also see Protein Wisdom […]
the only peopel that didn’t have access were Cable News reporters. ABC, CBS, and NBC had there people there. This is Cable news exhibiting “sour grapes”
Len,
Andrea Mitchell is from NBC News. And none of the network people had access in Iraq or Afghanistan. If you don’t believe me, e-mail ABC’s Jake Tapper, whom I heard say the same thing on the radio.
See, this is what happens when we get traffic from the New York Times.
And none of the network people had access in Iraq or Afghanistan.
So they’re really glad they went. Money well spent. Rhyming comment. Should not have sent.
You might have thought that the bit about O! taking an “uncompromising approach†to when and where he would grant interviews to the network news anchors on the trip might have been a hint to ol’ Len.
Karl,
I’m guessing that a hint to Len is like a taser to the eyeball to you and me.
Not that I put myself in your class, mind you, uh, it’s just, uh, what I mean to say, uh, is uh, and so forth, uh, I believe my meaning is clear.
[…] is arrogant and bullying of the press on matters far beyond Obama’s private life, as noted here during the Obamaganda and fake interviews of the World Tour: Consider this story in the context of: […]