Under mounting pressure, President Obama's campaign has now released a transcript of his telephone conversation with The Des Moines Register, which the campaign had previously insisted be off the record. Publisher Laura Hollingsworth and Editor Rick Green talked to Obama yesterday morning.
Last night, Green used his blog to criticize the campaign for the conditions it imposed on the paper.
Green's remarks snowballed. The New York Times noted early this morning that Iowa's largest paper had handed Obama "an outside-the-Beltway lesson when an off-the-record conversation requested by the White House spilled into public view." On Twitter, the Republican National Committee led a chorus of critics.
After the transcript was released, other media piled on, including accounts in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal plus Politico.
The campaign's reversal is an important victory for the public's right to know about Obama's positions less than two weeks before the Nov. 6 election. Iowa is one of 12 battleground states. Obama is leading in the state.
Previously, GOP nominee Mitt Romney had talked to the Register's editorial board in hopes of getting its endorsement. The paper is scheduled to reveal its endorsement on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time. In 2008, the Register endorsed Obama over Republican John McCain.
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| Green |
Green's remarks snowballed. The New York Times noted early this morning that Iowa's largest paper had handed Obama "an outside-the-Beltway lesson when an off-the-record conversation requested by the White House spilled into public view." On Twitter, the Republican National Committee led a chorus of critics.
After the transcript was released, other media piled on, including accounts in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal plus Politico.
The campaign's reversal is an important victory for the public's right to know about Obama's positions less than two weeks before the Nov. 6 election. Iowa is one of 12 battleground states. Obama is leading in the state.
Previously, GOP nominee Mitt Romney had talked to the Register's editorial board in hopes of getting its endorsement. The paper is scheduled to reveal its endorsement on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time. In 2008, the Register endorsed Obama over Republican John McCain.
It figures Laura Hollingsworth agreed to those conditions in the first place. It shows how clueless she is as a publisher. The Louisiana papers are lucky to have her making decisions for us now. Is anybody paying attention?
ReplyDelete"Great. Mr. President, we know that John Boehner and the House Republicans have not been easy to work with, and certainly you’ve had some obstacles in the Senate, even though it’s been controlled by the Democrats...."
ReplyDeleteGiven the president's unease with unprepared remarks and the lack of any kind of followup from Laura or Rick, was this off-the-record on-the-record call preceded by a list of prepared questions?
We've all seen how the president speaks live, not nearly as polished as with prepared remarks. Granted, the campaign cleaned up the stray ums and ahs out of the transcript, which can be excused. But speaking extemporaneously this well for a half hour straight just is hard to square with the president we know.
It's not just a hypothetical quandry, though it is a bit 'inside baseball.' At best, handing softballs like the above to a candidate of either party does a disservice to your readership on the current issues.
At worst, the simpering tone indicates that any DMR story advertised as 'hard-hitting' should be framed by a feather pillow.
Stand up for the best principles of your profession. Even your enemies can respect you then.
So essentially the Obama campaign got the option of reviewing the transcript and deciding whether they liked it before approving whether it would be published. The Register botched this. They should not have agreed to off-the-record in the first place, period.
ReplyDeleteAny good publisher knows not to agree to an off-the-record conversation with any political candidate.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely right, 7:42, and the Register was even more appalling for agreeing to it and THEN calling out the Obama campaign in public to change the terms --- of a deal the Register freely made.
ReplyDeleteIm disgusted by this after being a fan of Rick Green's for while. The paper's job is to give their readers the information they need to make an informed vote. Green and his publisher should have cut the Obama camp off immediately the minute they suggested the interview needed to be off the record. It really doesn't matter that the DMR wanted to talk to Obama to decide on an endorsement. Everything he has to say about how he intends to run this country should be public. We pay his salary. No secrets Rick. Makes me wonder if you still value what we do.
ReplyDeleteThe saddest part to all of this is that Laura and Rick are off high-fiving each other on a job well done - clueless that their actions are cowardly and completely inappropriate from any journalistic angle.
ReplyDeleteOh well, Green's not the first Register editor to embarrass us over a presidential campaign.
ReplyDeleteThat's right! Green's predecessor drove a wedge between candidates...
ReplyDeleteRick Green is so self-serving it is pathetic. The footprints of Green's shoes are on the backs of journalists with integrity. It is the Gannett way. I'd fire both of those clowns. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteWHO-AM, Des Moines, called the incident "silly and bizarre."
ReplyDeleteYup.
The Register should make NO endorsements after this embarrassing incident. Shame on Laura and Rick!!!!! Instead of an endorsement, they should write an apology to readers/voters.
ReplyDelete....'an important victory for the public's right to know about Obama's positions less than two weeks before the Nov. 6 election." This is Iowa. We see candidates on a regular basis. Plus, after seeing approximately 1,800 television ads per day, listening to 3 debates, and months of campaigning, I think the public is very aware of Obama's positions without this transcript. Much ado about nothing.
ReplyDeleteHow do I know hell has frozen over? Because sleazebag Rick Green is doing right thing.
ReplyDeleteI love that Jim deletes a post if you try to identify a poster but its okay to call someone a sleezebag.
DeleteRick Green is a great guy and a great editor. You go Ricky don't worry about these posters. They have no clue
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete9:12 Where do you see the word "sleezebag"?
ReplyDeleteForget about a President's Ring. This guy is in line for the Gannett Fist of Honor award.
ReplyDeleteRG did right thing.
ReplyDeleteThat BHO's staff would suddenly call and demand OTR on this is just silly and bizarre, and Mitt's people had a huge field day with it.
That's on BHO, not RG.
Jim -- what about a special history blog -- "weirdest election story, ever?" Who suddenly dropped in? Who got in a shouting match? Longest night, ever?
8:35 - The fact that LH & RG agreed to an off-the-record conversation is ludicrous. Stop making excuses for them. It was wrong and they should have known. it. It's not rocket science. This is why Gannett is such a joke and losing credibility every single day. I find it sad and disturbing that BHO's campaign knew it could get away with such a stunt with Gannett. This is how pathetic this company has become.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they screwed up, at first.
ReplyDeleteThen, they fixed it. And BHO is taking another ink-bath flood of bad PR.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203897404578076841543944634.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
Duh.
RG, you goofed, but you recovered. Way to go. At least you didn't look stupid on national TV.