Pay A Real Price For Spreading Phony News

It turns out that “Pat” Philbin, the one-time public affairs director of FEMA who was responsible for staging the recent phony “news conference” regarding that agency’s involvement in the fires of Southern California, was just let go.

Awwww….

As noted here, his boss communicated the following…

"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, said.

And when it comes to “dumbest and most inappropriate things,” who would know better than Mike Chertoff?

Well, a lot of individuals immediately drew a parallel to the case of Jeff Gannon (pictured, acting in a decidedly non-news gathering capacity), the “reporter” for Talon News who was allowed to ask bogus questions at White House press conferences, and as thought of this, I remembered the following issue noted here by Salon’s Eric Boehlert…

The question about credentials remains key. The vast majority of reporters covering the White House have what's called a "hard," or permanent, pass. To obtain one they have to verify they work for a recognized news organization with job responsibilities covering the White House. They have to submit to a lengthy security background check conducted by the FBI, which can take months to complete and requires being photographed and fingerprinted. Journalists also must verify to the White House they already have credentials to cover Capitol Hill. Without them, the White House won't complete a hard pass request.

In late 2003 (James) Guckert (Gannon's real name) applied for a Capitol Hill pass and was denied because Talon, which enjoys close ties to GOPUSA.com, was not deemed to be a legitimate, independent news outlet. That in and of itself should have been a red flag for the White House press office. Yet for nearly two years, it allowed Guckert to circumvent the hard pass system by using a day pass whenever he needed White House access. The day pass requires just a minimal background check. It was designed to be used on a temporary basis, such as for reporters coming in from out of town to cover the White House for a brief period. Guckert, though, with the help of somebody inside the press office, turned the day pass system into his own revolving door. That was when he was at least working for Talon News.

So, while letting go of Philbin for his fake news conference is at least a minor nod towards treating the American news-consuming public with a measure of respect (prompted, no doubt, by this administration’s fervent desire to make the FEMA handling of the California fire tragedy as “anti-Katrina” as possible), determining exactly who it was who once credentialed Jeff Gannon for White House press access, publicly naming this person and dismissing him or her (assuming they’re not already gone) is the next logical step.