It's not exactly Gore Vidal versus William F. Buckley, but it's still fun to watch writers fight.To mix metaphors, this might be a little too "Inside Baseball" if you aren't a news junkie looking for your fix, but here goes.
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank wrote a column on Wednesday critical of the Obama administration's decision to call on Nico Pitney, a blogger from the Huffington Post, at last week's news conference. Milbank's concern was that the administration had apparently notified Pitney the night before the presser that he'd be asked to pose a question. Pitney has been live blogging events in Iran in recent weeks and has widely been seen as a go-to source for updates from that censored country.
Milbank wrote, "The use of planted questioners is a no-no at presidential news conferences, because it sends a message to the world -- Iran included -- that the American press isn't as free as advertised. But yesterday wasn't so much a news conference as it was a taping of a new daytime drama, "The Obama Show." Missed yesterday's show? Don't worry: On Wednesday, ABC News will be broadcasting "Good Morning America" from the South Lawn (guest stars: the president and first lady), "World News Tonight" from the Blue Room, and a prime-time feature with Obama from the East Room...But yesterday's daytime drama belonged primarily to Pitney, of the Huffington Post Web site. During the eight years of the Bush administration, liberal outlets such as the Huffington Post often accused the White House of planting questioners in news conferences to ask preplanned questions. But here was Obama fielding a preplanned question asked by a planted questioner -- from the Huffington Post.
Pitney and Milbank were on CNN's Reliable Sources this morning. I don't think they went out for coffee after the show:
I've been following Pitney's Iran blogging on HuffPo and was a fan of his work at his former blog, ThinkProgress. Milbank--whose out-of-context Obama quote from a column last summer led to a falling out with Keith Olbermann--is a bit smarmy for my blood, and I've often wondered if he's a frustrated stand-up comic.
It's business as usual for an administration to attempt to manage the press, although I believe that press conferences should be the free-for-alls they were designed to be.
Still, if Pitney's question wasn't tipped off, I suppose the republic will stand.
This is the second time Obama's decision to call on a blogger has ruffled Beltway feathers. He called on HuffPo's Sam Stein at his first presidential presser in February.
