Does the "Jeff Gannon"/ Talon News story have legs?

[DefenseLawyer]

If it turns out that the GOP created the Talon News Agency and then knowingly gave this "Jeff Gannon" (I use quotes because that name is quite possibly a pseudonym) the credentials of a journalist and use him frequently as a plant to ask softball questions at press conferences AND, apparently, used him and his "news organization" to leak the Plame story, is it significant? I think, especially in light of the Armstrong Williams revelations it is a big deal. But I am the first to admit that I really don't know up from down in American politics anymore. http://mediamatters.org/items/200501280006

[KeireG]

1. Huge deal...

They've been trying to get to the Plame leak for so long, and the key may be in that organization.

[blm]

2. Bush calls on fake journalist, Gannon, but won't acknowledge Helen Thomas?

It SHOULD have legs, if we had any kind of a REAL press.

Other WH press corps knew Gannon was a RNC tool, so why didn't they point it out earlier?

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. It's been pointed out several times on DU over the past year

that he was a fake journalist (the only outlets that pick up his reports are ultra-right wing mouthpieces), always allowed to ask an arse-licking question. I assumed it was standard knowledge in the USA.

[Dr.Phool]

3. Gannons own resume provides the answer

A little digging, and you'll find his journalism degree cost $50.

[starroute]

19. Gannon's degree appears to be from Blackwell's Leadership Institute

Daily Kos refers to the "Leadership Institute for Broadcasting Journalism" -- which doesn't exist. I assume what is meant instead is the Leadership Institute's Broadcast Journalism School. (http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/02TRAINING/001BJS/001BJS.cfm)

The Leadership Institute was founded in 1979 by Morton Blackwell. (He's the guy who was handing out purple heart bandaids at the Republican convention -- not to be confused with Ohio's Ken Blackwell.) Blackwell was head of the College Republican National Committee from 1965 to 1970, when it became a school for Nixonian dirty tricks, and the Leadership Institute was created to serve the same function. Karl Rove and Grover Norquist are both alumni.

See:
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=17581
http://www.bates.edu/x48219.xml

Another interesting connection is with Mike Krempasky, who set up the rathergate.com site so quickly after the CBS memos flap broke that it raised suspicions he had advance warning. Krempasky worked for the Leadership Institute from 1999 to 2002 and also has ties to Roger Stone, another alumni of the College Republicans who has a 35 year history of dirty tricks.

Advanced Search is out again, or I'd put up some links to threads from last fall, but it looks very much like this is the same dirty tricks wing of the Republic Party that we've seen so often before.

(And, on a possibly irrelevant note, isn't "Gannon" the name of the bad guy in the Legend of Zelda and sequels? If it's a pseudonym, this fellow sure has a weird self-image.)

[Cocoa]

4. it doesn't strike me as a huge deal

if it is a big deal, I haven't figured out what the deal is.

For one thing, they're not pretending to be a normal news outlet, and another thing is it's questionable how influential Talon.com is.

Yeah, Scotty goes to him when he's in trouble, but if Gannon wasn't there he could go to that Lester guy that always asks about abortion, or that Indian guy that always asks about India.

(and note, GOPUSA is not the GOP)

[Pirate Smile]

5. Have you seen the research people at DailyKos have done this weekend?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/30/9415/11717

It is voluminous and, hopefully, very leggy.

[TayTay]

6. I'm gonna wait for the full MEdia Matters report

I think they have a good grasp on this. Stories like this can be spun in many different directions. I'm gonna parse the whole thing and then figure it out. I just have too many bad memories about the * military records debacle and I have learned to look five times at anything that looks too good on the web. It could be a deliberate plant.

[grasswire]

17. thanks...

...now if I could just figure out how to navigate KOS, I could pass on some info they're missing.

[cry baby]

7. Who knows...the world is upside down, very unpredictable.....

I think the Iraq election story will dominate until this "Jeff Gannon" thing is old news.

[DefenseLawyer]

8. I really hope Olbermann give this some play tomorrow

Seems like a fake reporter in the White House press corps is story he could run with from several angles.

[Al-CIAda]

9. Plame leaked by fake news source?

Plame leaked by fake news source?
by SusanG
Fri Jan 28th, 2005 at 17:30:14 PST
Did the White House dribble the Plame leak through its own fake mouthpiece news source?

Consider:

A fake news service employs a fake reporter who apparently was the only one "identified by the Washington Post as having knowledge of the memo's existence." What leaked CIA memo, you ask?  The one in which "Wilson ... suggests his wife was instrumental in his selection for the fact-finding trip to Africa."

Let's back this pony up and look at what's come out in the past week.

Media Matters for the past couple of days has been delving into the mysterious "Talon News Service" and its mysterious, oh-so-helpful shilling reporter at White House press conferences, "Jeff Gannon."

Diaries :: SusanG's diary ::

First, from Media Matters:


Talon News, a conservative company whose Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent Jeff Gannon is well-known for asking loaded pro-Republican questions at White House press briefings,appears to be more a political organization than a media outlet.

Media Matters for America recently highlighted three Gannon articles that were little more than reprints of Republican and Bush administration releases; Media Matters has also noted Gannon's role as White House press secretary Scott McClellan's lifeline and Talon editor in chief Bobby Eberle's partisan political activities. A more in-depth look at Talon,Gannon,and Eberle casts additional doubt on Talon's claim to be a media outlet and raises questions about whether Gannon should be a credentialed member of the White House press corps.

Eberle is also,as Media Matters has previously noted,president and CEO of GOPUSA,a "conservative news,information,and design company dedicated to promoting conservative ideals." Though Eberle has claimed on the September 13,2004,edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country that GOPUSA and Talon News are separate companies,they overlap heavily.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200501280006

But wait! "Jeff Gannon" isn't really Jeff Gannon after all, according to Atrios:


Special Treatment for Gannon?

According to sources, Jeff Gannon's real name is not, in fact, Jeff Gannon. According to the same sources, his White House press credentials list him as "Jeff Gannon" - they let him use his pseudonym -- even though married female reporters, who use their maiden name professionally, are given credentials with their married name and aren't allowed to be credentialed under their maiden names...

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_01_23_atrios_archive.html#110695056420863397

And then, a little Googling reveals this, from a March 9, 2004, "Talon News" release:


Talon News has learned that one of the journalists being targeted is Jeff Gannon, Washington Bureau Chief and White House correspondent for Talon News.

According to a subsequent Talon News story by Bobby Eberle regarding the Washington Post piece, "The Washington Post cites an unnamed source who says, 'The CIA is angry about the circulation of a still-classified document to conservative news outlets.'

They point to a memo referenced in a Talon News interview of Wilson that suggests his wife was instrumental in his selection for the fact-finding trip to Africa."

Talon News was the only service identified by the Washington Post as having knowledge of the memo's existence.

http://www.jeffgannon.com/Making%20News/federal_grand_jury_could_subpoen.htm

So am I reading more into this than I should be? And why would "Talon News" fink its own self out about the grand jury subpoena? Has the Bush administration and its evil ways turned me into a permanent paranoiac? Does anyone want to join me in useless speculation as to what this complicated crapola means?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/28/203014/655

=======
He's also a member-


"Bringing the Word of God to bear on the hearts and minds of those who make public policy in America."

National Bible Reading Marathon Off To A Wet And Wonderful Start!

Mr. Jeff Gannon of Talon News Service reads at the podium, other readers wait their turn bundled in thick rain coats.

http://www.faithandaction.org/050304NBRMDay1.htm

==========
Bio info: "He is also a graduate of the Leadership Institute Broadcast School of Journalism."

Course description:

An intense two-day seminar, the Broadcast Journalism School is designed to give aspiring journalists the skills necessary to bring balance to the media and succeed in this highly competitive field.

For $50, you'll receive two days of instruction, meals on Saturday and Sunday and all course materials. Limited free housing is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/02TRAINING/001BJS/001BJS.cfm

What a JOKE.
---------
One-of-a-kind programs produce amazing results.
If you want to be a winner in politics you'll want to attend the Leadership Institute's programs.

No other organization can give you so many skills for public policy and personal success.

Since 1979 the Institute's unique seminars and workshops have enrolled more than 40,000 students and taught them how to win. Each year hundreds of Institute graduates obtain positions of influence in public policy because of their Leadership Institute training.

The Leadership Institute is the premier training ground for tomorrow's conservative leaders.
Conservative leaders, organizations and activists rely on the Institute for the preparation they require for success.

Employment Placement and Internships
In addition to nationwide programs, the Institute wants to help you launch an exciting career. The Leadership Institute's Employment Placement Service and Intern Program open doors for you which would otherwise remain shut.

If you are ready to achieve public policy success or would like more information regarding the Leadership Institute call (800) 827-LEAD today.

http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/01ABOUTUS/aboutus.htm
------
The Leadership Institute is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation.

It does not support, endorse or oppose candidates or proposed legislation. The Leadership Institute does not discriminate with respect to race, color,religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, or partisan affiliation. The Leadership Institute has an open admission policy, all programs are open to the public.
http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/01ABOUTUS/copyright.htm


lol
--------

"You have the opportunity to get the same training as many of today's most recognized and respected conservative leaders:"

United States Senator Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
Former Governor Jim Gilmore, Virginia
Congressman David McIntosh, Indiana
Congressman Mark Souder, Indiana
Congresswoman JoAnn Davis, Virginia
Congressman Joe Wilson, South Carolina
Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
Ralph Reed, Former Executive Director, Christian Coalition
Rob Anders, Member of Parliament, Canada

http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/02TRAINING/training.htm

[walldude]

10. I doubt it, but it should

especially considering the crap they spewed about the soldiers question to Rumsfeld being planted, just another case of Bush hypocrisy

[Stirk]

11. *Nothing* will have legs until one of two things happen:

Either:

1. It becomes conventional wisdom within the corporatocracy that they would make more money without Bush

or

2. There's such an enormous and undeniable public outcry against the Bush Administration that the Republican Party decides to let him sink to save their own skins

Short of those two things, he's teflon.

[fob]

12. Remember you can't spell Teflon with out FELON!!

I can dream can't I?

[grasswire]

13. yes

There's some stuff going on under the radar. And that IS a pseudonym.

Here's a significant question. Did the Grand Jury subpoena him under that name to testify in the Plame matter?

We're only seeing the very tip of this iceberg. Perhaps it's time to rattle the White House Correspondents Association to ask what their position is on this.

And Editor & Publisher ought to be interested, too.

The WH refuses to release his real name to inquiring reporters, BTW.

Isn't this a national security issue? Who else would be allowed to come and go in the WH under a false name??

[Skittles]

14. LOL............DefenseLawyer

who is gonna give it "legs" - the LIBERAL MEDIA? BWAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

[DefenseLawyer]

15. That is kinda what I had in mind, yes.

Otherwise, I suppose my kid's school paper could run with it.

[Skittles]

16. IT IS OUTRAGEIOUS

I never thought I would see the day when I trusted PRAVDA more than the MSM in AMERICA

[hector459]

20. Why aren't we bombarding all press, at home and abroad, with this shit!!

Armgstrong Williams was just the tip of this melting iceberg. Every activist in this nation should be all over this shit including Boxer and our Dems with some spine in the Congress.

This is something that Dan Rather should have been covering instead of the not-necessary-follow-up AWOL story. Everyone knows and accepts that Bush was AWOL but a lot of people sure as hell don't know about how this evil adminisstration is controlling their minds and the information that gets to them.

[qanda]

21. If someone digs deep enough

They'll probably discover that he had something to do with facilitating the CBS "forged" document scandal.

[starroute]

22. Links to earlier threads which may be relevant

There's a great deal about Bruce Eberle on the "Social Security Scam Letter" thread from last fall, including some things DailyKos hasn't come up with yet:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1108892

There were also a couple of threads on Mike Krempasky, an employee from 1999 to 2002 of Morton Blackwell's Leadership Institute, from which "Gannon" got his journalism training. Krempasky was the fellow who founded "rathergate.com" immediately after the CBS memos flap broke. He also had connections with long-time right-wing dirty trickster Roger Stone.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2400623
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2407402

I have no idea whether there's any dirrect connection between Krempasky and "Gannon" -- but it sure looks like they come out of the same context.

On edit: I thought of one other possible connection. Bruce Eberle was a supporter of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, with which "Buckhead," who came up with the initial claims that the CBS memos were produced in MSWord, is associated.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=835262
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=837236

[DefenseLawyer]

23. It does appear that all these cranks have some connection,

however loosely. To me this issue on its surface is easy for people to grasp: Fake journalist with fake name asking the President fake questions. Not complicated, an easy story to put together, like say, a break in at democratic headquarters or something. That's enough to get some initial coverage. Maybe it is exceedingly wishful thinking on my part, but if someone can follow the money through this operation their whole setup of lies and payoffs can come to light.