Reporter is Taken by President Bush's 'Charm' and Gushes About Memories he will 'Cherish'

Just in case you needed more evidence that the White House Press Corps often sympathizes with Washington insiders instead raising critical questions, I give you John Gizzi's take on President Bush's final press conference. Gizzi is the Political Editor of HumanEvents.com and has covered many a Presidential press conference over the last eight years. Gizzi writes:

In his final meeting with the press, President Bush was perfectly charming. To some of those with whom he has had a frosty relationship, Mr. Bush said, “I always respected you,” adding that those who covered him “do the best they possibly can,” and -- in a slight backhand -- noted that at times, the reporters “mis-underestimated me.”

Oh, the good times that the Press Corps has had over the years! From the President's non-answers, embarrassing missteps, and goofy catch-phrases...hasn't this all been a blast? Gizzi continues:

Whether he was joshing with April Ryan of Urban Radio (“April, you were sound asleep back there”) or telling Suzanne Malveaux of CNN he had learned to pronounce her name right after eight years (“Su-zonnnn”), the President obviously enjoyed his “last hurrah” with those who had covered him and often sparred with him.

Bush enjoyed this last press conference so much, that he decided to snub veteran journalist Helen Thomas (as some bloggers have pointed out). So much for respecting those who he has sparred with. Gizzi concludes:

For all the last-minute notices of press conferences, the jostling for a seat, and that it was very often to difficult to get news-making information from President Bush, I found it a pleasure to be part of “the arena” that is the Brady Briefing Room. His sense of humor, occasional weaving and bobbing on the podium, and the give-and-take with reporters are memories I will cherish. I’m not sure what the new President and his press secretary will be like, but if there is in any way a continuing of the dog-and-pony show that the Bush White House had under four different spokesmen, I’m looking forward to it.

Not only is Gizzi gushing with memories he will cherish about these press conferences, but he is hoping that Obama's conferences will be a similar "dog-and-pony show". I, for one, am a fan of critical reporting no matter the President and quite frankly couldn't care less whether reporters like Gizzi have been charmed by the antics of the President. Tough questions and independence is something that society must demand from journalists, especially now when there are so many important issues that are coming to a head. The very fact that reporters like Gizzi are gushing about the President's charm and about "memories" they will "cherish" is a pretty good example of what is wrong with some of the coverage that is coming out of Washington.

Prosecutors Announce That All Charges Against Journalists in St. Paul Will Be Dropped

In follow up to a story that was reported and discussed here at the Beacon, it has just been announced that all charges against journalists arrested in St. Paul during the RNC will be dropped.

The decision was announced by local authorities in St. Paul following widespread public outrage at the detention and the filing of charges against journalists arrested while covering the events outside the RNC. Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul released the following statement:

“This decision reflects the values we have in Saint Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press. A journalist plays a special role in our democracy and that role is just too important to ignore. At the scene, the police did their duty in protecting public safety. In this decision, we are serving the public’s interest to maintain the integrity of our democracy, system of justice and freedom of the press.”

While this is certainly recognized as encouraging news by advocates of independent media and freedom of the press, there are many questions that still remain. Nancy Doyle Brown of Twin Cities Media Alliance states:

"This is an important first step, but many questions remain. We still need answers about why and how journalists got swept up in these arrests in the first place. And more than anything else, we need to ensure that this never happens again. We’ll never know how many important stories never got told because their authors were behind bars, not in the streets."

After the arrest of Amy Goodman and two of her producers from the independent media program Democracy Now!, thousands of people from across the country signed letters and statements calling for their release. The media reform organization FreePress delivered over 60,000 of these letters and statements to St. Paul City Hall demanding that they drop all charges against journalists. Josh Silver of FreePress reacted this news today:

"We’re pleased that the St. Paul authorities ultimately acted to uphold the rights of all journalists -- including those citizens using blogs, cheap cameras and cell phones to report news as it happens. Our task now is to ensure that our press remains free to report on the events, issues and stories that matter to our country, our communities, and our democracy."

Part of ensuring the future freedom of the press and of reporters to report on dissent is to critically examine why these actions were taken and how they can be prevented in the future. The statement from the Mayor's office implies that this is how the system should work; police should detain and arrest indiscriminately and then the courts will end up sorting it all out. Instead of assuming that this is an overall success there needs to be an examination into how these incidents happened, how they can be prevented in the future, and the impact this model of law enforcement has on a free society. The fact that so many people rose up and demanded that these charges be dropped is a victory for the people in standing up for basic rights. While this should certainly be viewed as a victory, it should be viewed through a bittersweet lens. Arresting journalists interrupts the important work that they are doing on the ground during the event being covered and this is valuable time that has been squandard can not be given back. Examination also needs to be done over the strategy of preemptively raiding journalists houses and rented space as was done in the case of I-Witness Video. This practice led police to copy documents and photograph items within the property, detain the individuals inside, and interrupt the journalistic work that was done. The following questions need to be asked in this case:

1. What did police do with the information collected from these locations?
2. Is any of this information being stored in a database that can be used against activists that have not broken any law, in future high publicity events?

There is no telling the amount of information compiled about journalists who have not been charged or convicted with a crime during the DNC and RNC. This is relevant and needs to be addressed.

This article can also be viewed at: http://www.cincinnatibeacon.com