Boehlert: Halperin's Cozying Up to Wingers Reflects Marketing Strategy for a Flopping Book

[BurtWorm]

From Media Matters for America:

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200611060008

...

Clearly Halperin has flip-flopped. But why?

I think the answers are pretty obvious. First, he's out shilling a new Karl Rove-is-a-genius book, The Way to Win, which means Halperin has a vested interest -- a financial incentive -- in seeing Rove's Republicans to do well (i.e., a GOP win would reinforce the friendly premise of his book).

And secondly, Halperin's 2004 memo sparked a riot among angry, pitchfork conservatives who, fresh off their victory over Dan Rather and CBS' botched Texas Air National Guard report, were looking for another mainstream media target. Convinced Halperin's memo was the proof they needed, they called for his ouster.

Watching his professional life flash before his eyes, it seems Halperin decided he'd never leave himself open to that kind of political attack again. And he hasn't. In 2005 he quickly tacked right (that's when The Note became truly sycophantic) and scored a high-profile book deal to chronicle the political brilliance of Bush and Rove.

In other words, follow the money. Note this key quote from Halperin's recent appearance on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. It pretty much lays bare the motivation behind the kowtowing:

As an economic model, if you want to thrive like Fox News Channel -- <if> you want to have a future -- you better make sure conservatives find your product appealing. <Emphasis added.>

This is about moving product, not producing good journalism.

It's interesting to note that early on in The Way to Win's marketing blitz, Halperin wasn't panhandling conservatives, making broad accusations about "overwhelming" liberal bias in the press. For instance, he sat for a one-hour interview on the October 5 edition of PBS' Charlie Rose, and the allegation of a "liberal media" was never made. It was not until the last week of October, after The Way to Win had failed to crack the best-seller list, that the feel-good conservative talking points about the biased press began to leap out of Halperin's mouth....

[wanpete]

1. He's disgusting! Completely smells up a room, kinda like a pig!