Can We All Agree that Politico.com is NOT a Good News Source?

[JCMach1]

She was escorted out of the hall by Frederick J. Ryan Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, and president and CEO of The Politico.

So the President and CEO of The Politico, Frederick Ryan, is also the Board Chairman for the Reagan Library. And that makes sense, because Ryan is a long-time, hard-core Reaganite... So the President and CEO of The Politico worked in multiple positions in the Reagan White House, and was continuously promoted until he rose to the level of Assistant to the President. And his close connection to the Reagan family and the Reagan presidency continues through today.

Are we supposed to treat this fact as irrelevant or something when assessing what The Politico is and what type of political coverage it churns out?... The Politico's primary (perhaps sole) funding source is the Allbritton Company, of which Frederick Ryan is an employee. The Allbritton family's leader, Joe, was CEO of Riggs Bank when Riggs pleaded guilty to a series of illegal financial transactions with right-wing Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his brutal military that took place throughout the 1990s and into 2001.

Although Allbritton himself was never charged with knowledge of those illegal transactions, he maintained what appears to be a close personal and business relationship with the right-wing dictator (h/t Jonathan Schwarz):

When Joe L. Allbritton was chief executive of Riggs Bank, he received personal gifts from Augusto Pinochet and wanted the former Chilean dictator to visit the Allbritton horse farm in Virginia, according to drafts of letters from 1996 and 1997.

The drafts were found in the bank's investigation of the relationship between Allbritton and Pinochet, whose government murdered or tortured an estimated 3,000 political opponents over 17 years. . . .

The two draft letters and memos do not show that Allbritton was aware of any illegal actions by the bank or its officers, but they indicate that Allbritton had a personal relationship with Pinochet and knew details of his business dealings at Riggs, according to sources who have read the documents. . . .

Since July, Riggs's internal investigators have discovered that Pinochet's relationship to Riggs was both deeper and longer than previously known, according to sources familiar with their findings. Since the July Senate hearing, Riggs has found photographs of Allbritton and Pinochet together and internal correspondence and letters to Pinochet and senior Chilean military officials that indicate Allbritton was personally involved in courting the former dictator as a Riggs client... http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/04/politico_funding/index.html


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Stories originating from this source should be considered as an extension of the Republican noise machine. At this point, their goal is to disrupt the Democratic Party primary process as thoroughly as possible and then crosshair the nominee. CAVEAT EMPTOR

[Forkboy]

1. I've never liked them, so yeah, I'll agree.

:)

[dkf]

2. The reporters at the politico came over from every other source we cite.

[JCMach1]

3. ***COUGH*** Fox News

Of course they do...!



And if you want to believe the people above would participate in something benign, or benevolent...

Pure magical thinking, that...

[dkf]

8. I respect these guys: VandeHei, Harris, Allen & Simon.

It first made waves in November, when former Washington Post political bigwigs Jim VandeHei and John Harris became prize acquisitions, announcing that they were jumping ship to the online start-up. At the time, reports told of an "impressive" budget allowance to attract yet more high-profile names, and the roster has since added Mike Allen and Roger Simon, lured from Time and Bloomberg News, respectively.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2007/01/08/politico-update-two-week_e_38084.html

from the Politico website: John Bresnahan, is the capitol bureau chief of Politico. He comes to us after over a decade covering Congress, most recently as a reporter and editor for Roll Call. He is one of the most well-sourced journalists on the characters, history and procedures of Congress.

[grasswire]

9. I don't respect those four.

And I find it hard to believe that you have observed them closely and have that opinion, if you are a Democrat. It was clear from the beginning of politico that this was a chop shop setup. A catapult for the propaganda. Nothing more.

[dkf]

10. I mean I respect that they came from legitimate shops.

Unless they do a steno sue deal or a Judy Miller I'm pretty cool with them all.

Of course I do take fox news with a grain of salt, and the Washington Times and anything run by Murdoch.

[grasswire]

11. so you trust the MSM?

WashPost and NY Times, etc?

[babylonsister]

4. When they write 'news' they're spot on. It's their opinions that

I don't agree with. I do think they get stuff before other sources sometimes. Some of these people, like Vander Hei (sp?), have fans. But then there's Mike Allen...:eyes: Not hard to fathom where he's coming from.

[MadBadger]

5. I see no reason not to use Ben Smith's blog over at Politico...the site itself, that's another thing

[JCMach1]

6. How is that different from watching FOX for the occasional sane voice of reason?

These people are part of the problem...

Ultimately, you are still watching FOX...

[BlooInBloo]

7. Nah. DUers loves them some Drudgico.