The press isn’t so crazy about background checks – when it’s their freedom this being walked all over:
For the first time this year, the Secret Service has a hand in credentialing the media; during previous conventions only the Congressional press galleries were in charge of credentialing the media…[Buzzfeed “editor” John Stanton] Stanton cited concerns about the background checks, the lack of a clear appeals process, and the involvement of a third-party subcontractor, urging his fellow journalists to express their concern over the process.“It seems like an unnecessary step and it gives them in my mind a new and troubling precedence to try and exert authority over the press corps,” Stanton said in an interview. “It creates a logistical burden, a troubling precedent for their ability to have almost a de facto say in who is qualified to be a reporter at these events. What if they use this as precedent to extend to other campaign events or any government events?”
Right – but if it saves just one life…
I feel a need to put this link online once in a while:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/the-medias-ancien-rgime/article/7805
It’s Hugh Hewitt writing about his 2006 visit to the Columbia School of Journalism, the original elite school of journalism, founded by Pulitzer himself.