5 ms·

This is how they win. The good guys leave, they get replaced by bad guys. Pretty soon no good guys are left.

lclc 1y ago
In this particular case, not even the bad guys (regardless of which side you consider them to be on) will take the job: > No reputable news organization signed the new rule — not mainstream outlets like NPR, The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times, nor the conservative Washington Times or the right-wing Newsmax, run by a noted ally of President Trump.
nickff 1y ago
From what I understand, these press pools (specifically the White House press pool) began as what the author describes as "stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable". It seems like the administration is trying to mandate what was once the unstated agreement (that has since changed to some debatable degree). I am personally unsure of the value of these press pools in the face of modern 'PR'; as far as I can tell, all they do is generate 'clippable' videos.
- nobody9999 1y ago
  From TFA: >I've held my Pentagon press pass for 28 years. For most of that time, when I wasn't overseas in combat zones embedding with troops, I walked the halls, talking to and getting to know officers from all over the globe, at times visiting them in their offices. Without press credentials, the above becomes impossible. You seem to be under the impression that these folks sit in waiting areas until a "press conference" is announced, then copy down whatever some talking head says and publishes that and only that. There may well be some who do so, but that's not journalism, friend.
  - nickff 1y ago
    The question is how choreographed the rest of their ‘access’ is. This author seems to think they were getting ‘real dirt’, but I suspect that the officers they were talking to were actually walking a highly political tightrope in hopes of advancing their own careers.
    - nobody9999 1y ago
      >I suspect that the officers they were talking to were actually walking a highly political tightrope in hopes of advancing their own careers. Upon what evidence do you base your suspicions? I'd note that Tom Bowman (the author of TFA) has been publishing stories based upon such details for nearly three decades. Can you point to any stories that he published, based on such information from Pentagon-based military personnel, that turned out not to be factual? If so, please share that information. We'd all like to know.
      - nickff 1y ago
        My suspicions are based on listening to many podcasts with ex-military officer guests, and what they’ve said about serving ‘pentagon tours’, being publicity/public affairs/media officers for their units, and speaking with the press in general.
        nobody9999 1y ago
        >My suspicions are based on listening to many podcasts with ex-military officer guests, and what they’ve said about serving ‘pentagon tours’, being publicity/public affairs/media officers for their units, and speaking with the press in general. Which podcasts? Which ex-military officers? That's not a "gotcha," I want to listen to those myself.
        nickff 1y ago
        The Fighter Pilot Podcast is probably the best of them, both in terms of production and content, though recent episodes have drifted away from the ‘core content’ where it really shone. War on the Rocks has had some good ones as well, but not as interesting (in my opinion). There are many other military-focused and leadership-focused podcasts where you can glean something interesting every once in a while, but not really enough that I’d actually recommend following them. edit: some NASA astronaut interviews contain interesting info about (retired) military astronauts’ careers, which tend to be interesting as well.
- legitster 1y ago
  > I am personally unsure of the value of these press pools in the face of modern 'PR'; as far as I can tell, all they do is generate 'clippable' videos. Very much the opposite - the press pool generates a massive amount of cross-verified content for distribution to all news agencies. The agencies then clip and edit and nip and tuck the press pool coverage as they see fit. Obviously the press pool only gets all the talking points they want them to, but also the press pool is literally there following around the president all day, so it's also really hard to hide things from the press pool. For example, the press pool knew of Obama's smoking or FDR's wheelchair or RFK's... indulgences. As part of the unwritten gentleman's agreement they never broke news on this stuff, but they were also witness to it and recorded it for later.
soupfordummies 1y ago
Exactly. There was a story a few weeks back about a lot of the CDC top brass basically resigning in protest. I'm just thinking "yeah go ahead and pat yourself on the back with your NYT OpEd about your pyrrhic victory while RFK instills more whackos at the upper levels."

lclc 1y ago

In this particular case, not even the bad guys (regardless of which side you consider them to be on) will take the job: > No reputable news organization signed the new rule — not mainstream outlets like NPR, The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times, nor the conservative Washington Times or the right-wing Newsmax, run by a noted ally of President Trump.

nickff 1y ago

From what I understand, these press pools (specifically the White House press pool) began as what the author describes as "stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable". It seems like the administration is trying to mandate what was once the unstated agreement (that has since changed to some debatable degree). I am personally unsure of the value of these press pools in the face of modern 'PR'; as far as I can tell, all they do is generate 'clippable' videos.

nobody9999 1y ago
From TFA: >I've held my Pentagon press pass for 28 years. For most of that time, when I wasn't overseas in combat zones embedding with troops, I walked the halls, talking to and getting to know officers from all over the globe, at times visiting them in their offices. Without press credentials, the above becomes impossible. You seem to be under the impression that these folks sit in waiting areas until a "press conference" is announced, then copy down whatever some talking head says and publishes that and only that. There may well be some who do so, but that's not journalism, friend.
- nickff 1y ago
  The question is how choreographed the rest of their ‘access’ is. This author seems to think they were getting ‘real dirt’, but I suspect that the officers they were talking to were actually walking a highly political tightrope in hopes of advancing their own careers.
  - nobody9999 1y ago
    >I suspect that the officers they were talking to were actually walking a highly political tightrope in hopes of advancing their own careers. Upon what evidence do you base your suspicions? I'd note that Tom Bowman (the author of TFA) has been publishing stories based upon such details for nearly three decades. Can you point to any stories that he published, based on such information from Pentagon-based military personnel, that turned out not to be factual? If so, please share that information. We'd all like to know.
    - nickff 1y ago
      My suspicions are based on listening to many podcasts with ex-military officer guests, and what they’ve said about serving ‘pentagon tours’, being publicity/public affairs/media officers for their units, and speaking with the press in general.
      - nobody9999 1y ago
        >My suspicions are based on listening to many podcasts with ex-military officer guests, and what they’ve said about serving ‘pentagon tours’, being publicity/public affairs/media officers for their units, and speaking with the press in general. Which podcasts? Which ex-military officers? That's not a "gotcha," I want to listen to those myself.
        nickff 1y ago
        The Fighter Pilot Podcast is probably the best of them, both in terms of production and content, though recent episodes have drifted away from the ‘core content’ where it really shone. War on the Rocks has had some good ones as well, but not as interesting (in my opinion). There are many other military-focused and leadership-focused podcasts where you can glean something interesting every once in a while, but not really enough that I’d actually recommend following them. edit: some NASA astronaut interviews contain interesting info about (retired) military astronauts’ careers, which tend to be interesting as well.
legitster 1y ago
> I am personally unsure of the value of these press pools in the face of modern 'PR'; as far as I can tell, all they do is generate 'clippable' videos. Very much the opposite - the press pool generates a massive amount of cross-verified content for distribution to all news agencies. The agencies then clip and edit and nip and tuck the press pool coverage as they see fit. Obviously the press pool only gets all the talking points they want them to, but also the press pool is literally there following around the president all day, so it's also really hard to hide things from the press pool. For example, the press pool knew of Obama's smoking or FDR's wheelchair or RFK's... indulgences. As part of the unwritten gentleman's agreement they never broke news on this stuff, but they were also witness to it and recorded it for later.

soupfordummies 1y ago

Exactly. There was a story a few weeks back about a lot of the CDC top brass basically resigning in protest. I'm just thinking "yeah go ahead and pat yourself on the back with your NYT OpEd about your pyrrhic victory while RFK instills more whackos at the upper levels."