Most of you have probably already seen the August 29 +óGé¼+ôNation+óGé¼-¥ article and photo of George Allen meeting with three leaders of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a racist, white supremacist group (see here). As you can see from the photo, its caption clearly identifies the three CCC leaders and their positions within the organization when the photo was taken. So what does the +óGé¼+ôWashington Post+óGé¼-¥ say today about those three CCC leaders, in an article today about blogs in the Webb-Allen race this year? The two +óGé¼+ôPost+óGé¼-¥ reporters who co-wrote the story say that those three CCC leaders in the photo +óGé¼+ôallegedly belonged to a white supremacist group.+óGé¼-¥. More below about the background of the +óGé¼+ôPost+óGé¼-¥ article of today, the +óGé¼+ôalleged+óGé¼-¥ journalism of the +óGé¼+ôWashington Post+óGé¼-¥ vs. real journalism, and what we can do about it.
Here+óGé¼Gäós what the photo caption in the +óGé¼+ôNation+óGé¼-¥ piece says about the three CCC (or CofCC) leaders and the photo, which then-Governor Allen suggested be taken while he was attending the 1996 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC):
At CPAC +óGé¼Gäó96: (L to R): Virginia Gov. George Allen, Citizens Informer [CCC newspaper] editor Fred C. Jennings, CofCC C.E.O. Gordon Lee Baum, national CofCC President Tom Dover, and actor Charlton Heston.
Can+óGé¼Gäót the two +óGé¼+ôPost+óGé¼-¥ reporters read a photo caption? There+óGé¼Gäós absolutely NOTHING +óGé¼+ôalleged+óGé¼-¥ about the membership of these three men in the CCC. The CCC published the photo in their newspaper in 1996. If the reporters had any doubts about the three leaders+óGé¼Gäó membership in the CCC, the reporters could have done a simple Google search. Or, to check on Baum, they could have read a Washington Post article from 1998 about the CCC. Baum was interviewed for and quoted in that +óGé¼+ôPost+óGé¼-¥ article.
This +óGé¼+ôPost+óGé¼-¥ reporting of today is irresponsible, and it+óGé¼Gäós typical of the way that the main stream media have ignored the August 29 +óGé¼+ôNation+óGé¼-¥ article. Since the article and photo were published, only one reporter has asked Allen or his campaign staff about the photo and Allen+óGé¼Gäós apparent endorsement of the white supremacist group (see here).
The Allen Campaign Has Contradicted Itself about the CCC Photo
The +óGé¼+ôNation+óGé¼-¥ article (see here) says this:
Asked whether Allen supports or deplores the CCC, John Reid, his communications director, pleaded ignorance. +óGé¼+ôI am unaware of the group you mention or their agenda, and because we have no record of the Senator having involvement with them, I cannot offer you any opinion on them, Reid told me in an e-mail response.+óGé¼-¥
Look how Reid contradicts himself in a September 3 story (see here that Bob Lewis did for the AP:
In the latest edition of The Nation, the left-leaning magazine carries a photo of Allen in 1996 with leaders of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a segregationist advocacy group for "European-American people." The senator's spokesman, John Reid said Allen had no ties to the group and dismissed the picture as one of many Allen, then governor, made with numerous groups and people in a receiving line.
So between the time of the interview for the +óGé¼+ôNation+óGé¼-¥ article and the AP story, Reid suddenly develops knowledge of the CCC, and he admits that the photo was taken. The press should be asking the Allen campaign to clear up those contradictions.
What The Media Need to Asking
Well, what should the MSM be asking George Allen and the CCC? Here are three key questions:
- Why has John Reid, the communications director for the Allen campaign, contradicted himself on the photo and Allen+óGé¼Gäós endorsement of the CCC?
- Regardless of how the photo was taken, does Allen still stand by his apparent endorsement of the CCC?
- Does the CCC still stand by its endorsement of Allen? Are they supporting Allen in his Senate race this year?
What You Can Do
You can help call for an end to +óGé¼+ôalleged+óGé¼-¥ journalism in several different ways:
- Send a letter to the editor the +óGé¼+ôWashington Post,+óGé¼-¥ pointing out there was nothing +óGé¼+ôalleged+óGé¼-¥ about the three leaders+óGé¼Gäó membership in the CCC. Send your LTE to: letters@washpost.com
- Send a letter to the +óGé¼+ôPost+óGé¼-¥ ombudsman, Deborah Howell, and ask that the paper print a correction about the three men+óGé¼Gäós CCC membership, and that that correction be attached to the archived version of the article. Send your email to: ombudsman@washpost.com.
- Contact reporters and editors in Virginia who you know, and ask them to investigate and report on Allen+óGé¼Gäós CCC link.
- Write LTEs to Virginia newspapers and complain if they don+óGé¼Gäót carry a news story about Allen+óGé¼Gäós CCC endorsement.
It+óGé¼Gäós time for reporters covering the Webb-Allen race to stop do +óGé¼+ôalleged+óGé¼-¥ journalism, and to start doing real journalism.
(Cross-posted to the Daily Kos blog, (here).
I don't know how much experience you've had with Ms. Howell. She is a living insult to the term "ombudsman." She could just as well be called "excuse-maker for Post reporters who screw up." In spite of that, it's good to keep the pressure on her and on the Post.
And here's another suggestion someone made in a reply to my Daily Kos diary: Go to the story on the Post Web site, go to the end of the story, and post a comment giving your thoughts on "alleged" journalism. And be sure to read the other comments. A lot of them are very good.
Mark (Dems2004 dKos)
Why did Russert let Allen get away with saying he didn't know what Macaca meant--just a made up word. Why didnt he point out that it is Tunisian french vernacular and that is the language spoken by his mother.
This race is Jim Webbs to lose.
Mmm... Ever heard that pets and their owners begin to resemble one another after a while? I have no doubt that, as Allen became Bush's pet, so did Reid learn all he knows from Tony Snowjob.
Regarding outrage... I posted a mile-long message on another thread; be d...d if I'm gonna do it again here. Hate it when others repeat themselves, and adhere to "do unto others"...
Having said that, abandon all hope that Executive Editor Len Downie's Post to ever connect the dots. Here's why, in his own words:
From the script of "911 Press for Truth"
"PATTY"- Patty Cosazza - 911 widow (one of the Jersey Girls)
"LEN" - Leonard Downie, Executive Editor of the Washiongton Post since 1992.
PATTY: The facts were dribbled out and over such an extended period of time that, I think, the effect was lost on the American public. The press should have been doing a better job of putting those "conflicts", if you will, (Laughs.) you know side by side… in a cumulative report.LEN: (1-16) But that's not the job of reporting. That's the job of editorial pages and politicians and others to make those kinds of judgments -- and the public itself, and the 9/11 relatives themselves -- to make those kinds of assertions. All we can do in our reporting is report facts. And we have reported those facts, and we have held those facts up against public statements at the time... which is why they know that’s what took place, from our reporting.
Downie and the Post are the great enablers of the Bush binge of overspending, war, and neglect of the people and our Constitution. I would not expect much from him...ever; other than to give Allen cover, as in this case.