Does Punchbowl News Play by the Rules?

[Celerity]

Where hosting a confab for lobbyists meets journalistic ethics

https://prospect.org/power/does-punchbowl-news-play-by-the-rules/



On Sunday afternoon, the Washington Football Team lost to the Dallas Cowboys, and Punchbowl News was there to see it. The D.C.-based scoop shop, a newsletter-based online publication, partnered with the scandal-plagued and still nameless sports franchise to secure a luxury skybox from which to watch the game. And they invited some friends—in their own words, an “exclusive group of D.C. decision makers.”

The list of notable attendees is worth publishing in full: Drew Maloney of the American Investment Council (the private equity industry’s trade group), Bruce Andrews of Intel, Jon Kott of lobbyist Capitol Counsel, Marissa Mitrovich of Frontier Communications, Mike Parrish of Bayer, Danielle Burr of McKinsey, Fred Humphries of Microsoft, Jane Adams of Johnson & Johnson, Stephen Ciccone of Toyota, Sean Kennedy of the National Restaurant Association, Isaac Reyes of Target, Brett Loper of American Express, Cameron Normand of Sony, David Castagnetti of law and lobbying firm Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Craig Purser of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Heather Higginbottom of JPMorgan Chase, Matt Miller of the corporate lobbyist the Business Roundtable, AJ Jones II of Starbucks, Lanier Hodgson of UNC Health Care, Michael Beckerman of TikTok, Alex Katz of Blackstone, and Robby Zirkelbach of ExxonMobil. They posed for some toothy photos with Punchbowl founder and journalist Jake Sherman.

The spokesperson for one attendee told the Prospect that Punchbowl invited these heavy hitters as guests, and they did not have to pay for their tickets. It is unclear whether or not the event was covered as part of a subscription to Punchbowl; the attendee’s organization did have a premium subscription.



On its face, the event looks like a flagrant violation of journalistic ethics. Basically every single lobbyist listed represents a firm that has lobbied legislators on the text of the Build Back Better, bipartisan infrastructure, and American Rescue Plan acts over the last ten months. Pharmaceutical representatives who successfully lobbied the prescription drug pricing regulations out of BBB, oil majors who lobbied against its environmental regulations, Blackstone who opposed tax reform, Toyota and Starbucks who have opposed unionization efforts. The National Restaurant Association, which killed the $15 minimum wage out of the American Rescue Plan Act, even makes an appearance.

snip

[bottomofthehill]

1. in a word, no

they are a media company not a news organization.

[Celerity]

2. Yet their reporters and/or writers are all over MSM opining about the news.

[bottomofthehill]

3. Yep, I don't think of them as reporters.

My personal opinion. They are more media influencers than reporters. Do/can/will they break a story, yes they will, but they are the chicken McNuggets of reporting to me.

[bottomofthehill]

4. They found a way to monetize the process and they are

Don’t fault them, just don’t think of them as reporters.