x****d 发帖数: 2239 | 1 So-called political pundits are an ubiquitous sight on mainstream news,
particularly during the run-up to a presidential campaign — but their ties
to the candidates they analyze remain obfuscated, downplayed, or altogether
left out by host networks.
As The Intercept’s Lee Fang reported, “Several consultants who work at
firms retained by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and her affiliated Super PACs
appear regularly on the major television networks, frequently touting
Clinton.”
This cozy bedfellow relationship might not be an issue if the extent of
their involvement with the candidates’ campaigns were forthrightly revealed
by the networks. Instead, the failure by omission not only muddies the line
between impartial analysis and campaign propaganda, it also marks a failure
of journalistic integrity.
“Journalism 101 teaches that reporters and TV news hosts must properly
identify their sources and analysts,” Ithaca College associate professor of
journalism, Jeff Cohen, told Fang. The Intercept’s requests for comment
from NBC, CBS, CNN, and ABC News were not answered.
Precision Strategies, co-founded by Stephanie Cutter, has been hired by
Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which has paid the firm $120,049 since June
2015 to perform “digital consulting.” Cutter, meanwhile, made appearances
on multiple networks without so much as a hint of her current association
with Clinton’s campaign. Instead, she is often introduced as a former
campaign official for President Obama. Such association with a campaign
doesn’t exactly lend itself to unbiased opinion.
“I think that Hillary Clinton has done everything right,” Cutter told NBC
’s Meet the Press prior to the first presidential primaries on January 17.
“She has run a good campaign. She has outperformed in debates. She’s
raised money. She’s got a great ground game.”
It stands to reason the viewing audience had no knowledge of Cutter’s firm
’s affiliation with Clinton’s campaign — and her virtual unavoidable bias
in such a proclamation. But had they been aware, perhaps viewers would have
been better positioned to judge for themselves whether or not that
statement rang true.
As Fang noted, Cutter had previously appeared on Meet the Press, also
without any indication by hosts of her association with the Clinton campaign
— but also proffering similarly pro-Hillary statements. On ABC News’ This
Week, Cutter appeared as a Clinton “supporter,” and on CNN, she was
called a “Democratic strategist” — but those networks failed to divulge
the direct involvement of Precision Strategies with Clinton’s campaign.
Maria Cardona, who contributes to CNN, has long served as a partner with
lobbying firm, the Dewey Square Group. Dewey Square partners have not only
contributed and fundraised for the Clinton campaign, the firm has been paid
for consulting work for Hillary’s Super PACs. Cardona, Fang noted,
contributed the individual maximum to the Clinton campaign — and is a DNC
superdelegate who “pledged support for Clinton last year, before any of the
primary elections.”
Again, Cardona is most often introduced or presents herself on CNN’s
various networks as “a neutral Democratic strategist or CNN contributor,”
and occasionally as a Clinton “supporter” — but not once, The Intercept
found, as a direct campaign contributor or as a Dewey Square paid campaign
consultant.
Hari Sevugan and Lynda Tran are directly involved, through 270 Strategies,
with Hillary Clinton’s campaign, as well. Tran co-founded 270 Strategies,
whose website proudly boasts of its consulting advice to her campaign; and,
as Fang explained, the firm was paid $75,200 by one of Hillary’s Super PACs
— and $301,621 by a second. Sevugan and Tran make regular appearances on
MSNBC and CBS News — without any divulgement about the nature of their
affiliation with the Hillary camp, of course — where they often downplay
Senator Bernie Sanders legitimate challenges to Clinton’s popularity.
Do you still think the game isn’t rigged?
After Fang’s requests for comment from both CBS and 270 Strategies went
unanswered, Tran’s appearance on CBS News on Saturday came with an even
more telling introduction than usual:
“Before we start, we should disclose that several employees of 270
Strategies do some work for the Hillary Clinton campaign, however, Lynda,
you do not.” |
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