News media’s revolving door to Obama White House blurs lines of objectivity

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Washington Times:

News media and politics in the age of Obama have grown uncomfortably close. So many journalists have found employment in the Obama administration that the phenomenon has become a story itself, with a dozen news organizations tracking the cross-pollination between the two and speculating on the implications. The current count of press turncoats varies from a low of 15 reported by The Daily Beast to a high of 24 as reported by The Atlantic.

 

“I’m often surprised when I hear about colleagues leaving journalism for government or government relations. I can’t imagine doing anything else, although I understand how the news business can turn sour for some people,” said veteran newsman Mark Knoller, White House correspondent for CBS News.

 

“My experience in dealing with former journalists now serving as government spokespersons or officials is mixed. Some of them understand the information I’m seeking and why — and are most helpful,” he said. “But some others strike me as having turned to the dark side and seem more interested in denying information than providing it.”

 

For conservative critics of President Obama and the mainstream media, the traffic between the two suggests a bigger problem.

 

“If one has a propensity to start out at a left-wing publication and then become an objective reporter, or one is readily willing to leave being an objective reporter to be a mouthpiece for one side or the other, it reveals their world view,” Erick Erickson, founder and editor of RedState.com, told The Washington Times.

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