McClatchy's D.C. Bureau Claims It's Barred From Defense Secretary Plane

[Newsjock]

Source: Editor & Publisher

Staffers at McClatchy's Washington, D.C., Bureau -- one of the few major news outlets skeptical of intelligence reports during the run-up to the war in Iraq -- claims it is now being punished for that coverage.

Bureau Chief John Walcott and current and former McClatchy Pentagon correspondents say they have not been allowed on the Defense Secretary's plane for at least three years, claiming the news company is being retaliated against for its reporting.

... Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman called such assertions "absurd," adding, "There is no basis of fact for that allegation. It is not true. There are always more people who would like to travel with the secretary than seats available."

Jonathan Landay, a former Pentagon correspondent and one of the co-authors of McClatchy's pre-war coverage, said he last traveled on the plane with then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2004 to Istanbul, Turkey, for a NATO economic summit. Since then, he says, none of McClatchy's people have flown. "It is unusual because we get aboard about two out of three trips (Secretary of State Condoleezza) Rice makes," Landay said. "They have a different policy at the Pentagon. We are definitely being discriminated against."

Read more: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003588819

[EFerrari]

1. Thank goodness I can trust the Pentagon.

[calimary]

3. Thank goodness they're FINALLY saying something in public about it.

If it were me, and I found myself being shut out or denied access, THAT would become my story.

[blm]

13. I think the Moyer's piece helped them gain a platform to SHOW their outrage finally.

The corporate broadcast media outlets certainly have shut them out since before the Iraq war - and no doubt it has been intentional.

[EFerrari]

15. You bet. And thank heavens for Bill Moyers for giving them

such a great venue, too. Our local fish wrap degraded noticeably when McClatchy sold several of them.

[marmar]

2. Welcome to the U.S.A.S.S.R.

:scared:

[IndianaGreen]

4. So what's the difference between Gates and Rumsfeld?

I seem to have misplaced my notes.

[formercia]

7. The Marquis DeRumsfeld is still giving orders

from his desk in the Pentagon Dungeon. Nothing has changed,except for a superficial junior Crusader and talking head.

[LiberalFighter]

9. Is that the same dungeon used during the Inquisition?

[formercia]

10. Just a cheap but expensive copy

of the one in the basement of his house.

They try to make him feel at home.

I'd bet there's a coffin in the corner in case he needs to take a nap and a reefer full of fresh blood that was meant to go to Iraq.

Can't let his blood sugar get too low. He might get cranky.

But, wait, he's already an old crank.

[Divernan]

11. "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

Chapman:
I don't know - Mr Wentworth just told me to come in here and say that there was trouble at the mill, that's all - I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.

(JARRING CHORD)(The door flies open and Cardinal Ximinez of Spain (Palin) enters, flanked by two junior cardinals. Cardinal Biggles (Jones) has goggles pushed over his forehead. Cardinal Fang (Gilliam) is just Cardinal Fang)

Ximinez:
NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise....
Our two weapons are fear and surprise... and ruthless efficiency....
Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...
and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope....
Our four... no...
Amongst our weapons... Amongst our weaponry...
are such elements as fear, surprise...
I'll come in again.
(Exit and exeunt)

Chapman:
I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.
(JARRING CHORD)(The cardinals burst in)

Ximinez:
NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms - Oh damn!

[formercia]

17. That hit the spot.

You would almost think that Monty Python could tell the future by satirizing the past.

[TacticalPeek]

5. K & R

:kick:

[Kolesar]

6. I emailed this to my local (former) Knight-Ridder newspaper...eom

[BrotherBuzz]

18. McClatchy bought Knight Ridder so...

I hope they are already hip to the story, but I guess a little nudging doesn't hurt. ;)

[OregonBi]

8. Hitler did the same thing.....

...as he ascended to power!
Be afraid for your freedoms and very lives, be very afraid.

[Peggy Day]

12. since McClasky sold my newspaper-the contra costa times, I've been very upset

at the coverage. I really miss it.

[JPZenger]

14. Those Guys Should Have Received the Medal of Freedom

In a perfect world, it would have been the D.C. Bureau of Knight-Ridder (now McClatchy) that won the Medal of Freedom and the Pulitzer. They were the only members of the main stream media who had the Iraq debacle story correct from the VERY beginning. They achieved this accuracy by talking directly to mid-level civil service and military professionals, instead of the Loyal Bushie political flunkies who were writing the stories in the other media.

I really miss their coverage. My local paper, the Phila Inquirer was sold off to local businessmen, and we are lucky to be able to read AP articles. There is no more investigative journalism in what used to be one the greatest papers in the US.

[davekriss]

16. Manufacturing Consent in action

Nice to see Chomsky's/Herbert's Propoganda Model still accurately reflects how things get done in our "free democracy".

[Supersedeas]

19. why do they hate our freedoms??