Reporter: "Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. (Senate minority leader) Harry Reid was talking about soup lines. And (Senator) Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath, they say Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis. How are you - and you've said you are going to reach out to these people - how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"
The above question was asked of President Bush at a rare Jan. 26 White House press conference by conservative "reporter" Jeff Gannon of Talon online news service. The blatantly partisan nature of this "question" - which featured incorrect information about Reid - sparked both outrage and inquiries into who Jeff Gannon is and what exactly is Talon news.
Once the question was raised, an online feeding frenzy occurred.
Bloggers discovered Jeff Gannon was a pseudonym. Gannon's real name is James Dale Guckert, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. They also discovered that Talon's editor in chief is Texas Republican activist Bobby Eberle. Eberle served as a Republican delegate to the 1996, 1998 and 2000 Texas Republican Conventions and in 2000 was a delegate to the national Republican Convention, according to www.mediamatters.org.
Bloggers also learned of Gannon's lack of journalistic credentials, and that he was allowed access to the White House press corps before Talon news was even registered and online. One of the criteria for a press pass is that the journalist is working for a news organization that is published regularly. Gannon appeared at White House briefings as early as Feb. 28, 2003, according to the Post-Intelligencer. Talon news was not registered and online until March 29, 2003.
It also came out that while Gannon received daily clearance into the White House press corps, his credentials and Talon news did not even qualify for a Congressional press pass, according to the Post-Intelligencer.
Bloggers also discovered Gannon had links to gay pornography sites. The sites featured nude pictures of Gannon and advertised a high-price male escort service. When Gannon denied the sites were ever active on CNN, AMERICAblog linked its readers to pictures and sites featuring Gannon.
Furthermore, Gannon was somehow able to obtain a secret CIA memo that exposed the identity of White House critic Joseph Wilson's wife, a covert CIA operative, according to The Washington Post; Gannon was one of the journalists to expose her and was later questioned by special prosecutors.
Though admittedly conservative, Gannon's softball questions created concern among other journalists at the White House. Gannon was confronted by wary members of the press corps a number of times, according to The Washington Post. Gannon's personal web page even has a section called "Behind Enemy Lines: Stories form Inside the White House Briefing Room."
Under pressure from the intense scrutiny, Gannon recently resigned from his position at Talon. He is considering suing the bloggers and liberal interest groups for libel, claiming they assassinated him politically and forced him from his job for libel, according to www.msnbc.com.
Though there is absolutely no evidence the White House was involved, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was seemingly complicit in allowing a pseudo-journalist into the daily briefings. Even though Gannon registered with his real name to obtain the press day passes, McClellan called on him frequently during briefings using his fake name, according to The Washington Post. There are also accusations that McClellan used Gannon as a device to break up tough strings of questions from the other reporters, calling on him in order to change the tone or subject.
Here is an example of a question and answer between Gannon and McClellan that occurred at a May 10, 2004 briefing (from The Washington Post). Judge whether Gannon is looking out for the interest of the American public or simply looking out for the interests of the Bush administration.
Gannon: "In your denunciations of the Abu Ghraib photos, you've used words like 'sickening,' 'disgusting' and 'reprehensible.' Will you have any adjectives left to adequately describe the pictures from Saddam's rape rooms and torture chambers? And will Americans ever see those images?"
McClellan: "I'm glad you brought that up, Jeff, because the President talks about that often."
-Beth Benson is a journalism and political science junior
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed - include your full name, major and year in school.
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