(cnn's) Castellanos’ Firm Also Has Contract With U.S. Chamber Of Commerce

[babylonsister]

I wonder if cnn will disclose this?

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/climate-change/alex-castellanos-firm-also-has-contract-with-u-s-chamber-of-commerce/

Castellanos’ Firm Also Has Contract With U.S. Chamber Of Commerce


We’ve spent some time here looking at the web of contracts and clients that pay GOP consultant Alex Castellanos’ firms, even as he also goes on CNN regularly to discuss the main issues of the day as an onstensibly independent-minded, if right-leaning commentator.

One of Castellanos’ firms, as you know, was the ad buyer behind a major insurance industry TV campaign against health care reform. His firm also has raked in nearly $500,000 from the Republican National Committee, which enlisted him to craft anti-reform talking points.

Here’s one more interesting data point: Another one of his firms, Purple Strategies, also has a contract with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the most determined and well-funded foes of Obama’s governing agenda.

J.P. Fielder, the Chamber’s spokesperson, confirms that Castellanos’ firm is doing the advertising on the Chamber’s ongoing multi-million-dollar campaign hailing the virtues of the free-market system — which has the specific goals of derailing Obama’s climate change and health care reform initiatives.

To be clear, there’s nothing necessarily amiss here, and I wanted to take this occasion to clarify something. The reason we’re digging into Castellanos is not because of Castellanos per se, but because his case tells a larger story about how Washington works. You hear a lot about the revolving door between government and lobbying. But there’s another, less-remarked-on revolving door: One between consulting and commentary.

Castellanos is by no means the only figure who cycles back and forth between the two, and there are plenty of high-profile Democrats who do the same thing. It’s an accepted fact of life in D.C. that commentators — Republicans and Democrats alike — offering ostensibly independent-minded commentary also take in big bucks consulting for businesses with specific legislative goals.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that in and of itself, but it does create journalistic challenges for the networks, who have to grapple with how to identify these commentators. Witness how CNN is struggling to deal with Castellanos’ case. More broadly, the commentary/consulting revolving door is a story we’re hoping to dig into more and more on this blog. Castellanos is just one example. We’re hoping to document much more of it here going forward.

[Zenlitened]

1. Re: "There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that in and of itself"

Yes, there is.

But then, I'm a relic, left over from the days when journalism was spelled with a capital "J."