Lots of squirming-- The right is pissed at Fox News' Gannongate coverage [View All]

[TexasLawyer]

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2005/ck_03011.shtml

Watchdogs Ignore Facts in 'Gannongate'
By Cliff Kincaid
March 1, 2005

Fox News Watch is proving to be one of the most disappointing programs airing on the Fox News Channel.

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But the February 26 edition of the program showed Gabler, Burns and other panelists going even further off the deep end, giving viewers a grossly distorted view of the affair that has been labeled "Gannongate." If the past is any guide, don't count on Burns & Company to correct the record in this case. The segment concerned the conservative journalist, Jeff Gannon, who got into White House briefings and press conferences, and whose real name is James Guckert. He was forced to resign from Talon News, an on-line conservative-backed news operation, when his personal life came under scrutiny and he was linked to homosexual activity. The far left, which claims to respect peoples' privacy, just won't let go of this story.

Fox News Watch panelist and columnist Jim Pinkerton, who is fairly conservative on most issues, turned in the worst performance on the February 26 show, insisting that Gannon had gained access to the White House under a false name and that this constituted a major security threat that requires an investigation. This is precisely what liberal Democrats are demanding. Pinkerton, who worked under two Republican presidents, said, "I worked in the White House for 6 years. I can tell you that clearing somebody in under a false name with the Secret Service takes an incredible amount of intervention from somebody high up in the White House to do that." Host Eric Burns asked, "So somebody was complicit?" Pinkerton replied, "Yes."

Yet Pinkerton offered no evidence for this sensational charge-and there is none. Those concerned-Gannon, his former employer, and White House officials-all say that he got into the White House under his real name, and no evidence to the contrary has been produced.

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Why wouldn't the White House want to support conservative-style journalism? Only the far left finds this repugnant.

The issue, however, has never been whether Bobby Eberle or Jeff Gannon thanked Karl Rove or whether Gannon had a conservative or pro-Republican bias. The issue is why Gannon was singled out for savage scrutiny as a conservative journalist and why left-wing bloggers investigated his private life and harassed his family members in order to drive him out of those briefings and press conferences. Host Eric Burns didn't want to tackle that. Instead, he introduced the segment by making fun of Gannon's predicament.


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