A June 25 Style article incorrectly described the liberal advocacy group America Coming Together as having been affiliated with 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean.
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Stung by Harper's In a Web Of Deceit
Bill Moyers interviews Ken Silverstein, right, about the latter's article on Washington lobbyists, for which he posed as a fictitious potential client.
(By Robin Holland)
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Hodge says the caper is part of "a long history of sting operations" by journalists. But that undercover tradition has faded in recent years. No newspaper today would do what the Chicago Sun-Times did in the 1970s, setting up a bar to entrap crooked politicians. Fewer television programs are doing what ABC did in the 1990s, having producers lie to get jobs at a supermarket chain to expose unsanitary practices. NBC's "Dateline" joins in stings against child predators, but by tagging along with law enforcement officials.
The reason is that, no matter how good the story, lying to get it raises as many questions about journalists as their subjects.
Crossing the Line
Why do journalists keep making political contributions?
The issue has surfaced again with a lengthy report by Bill Dedman on MSNBC.com, replete with lame-sounding excuses from the donors, who overwhelmingly gave to Democrats. Among the examples:
· George Packer, who covers Iraq for the New Yorker, gave $750 to the Democratic National Committee: "My readers know my views on politics." New Yorker writer Mark Singer, who profiled Howard Dean in 2004 and then gave $250 to Dean's America Coming Together, says he felt good about his support for "getting rid of George Bush, who has been the most destructive president in my lifetime."
· Guy Raz, who as a CNN correspondent in 2004 was embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq, gave $500 to John Kerry's campaign: "I did not cover U.S. news or politics." No, only the biggest issue in the campaign. A CNN spokeswoman says the network was unaware of the former reporter's donation and that it violated network policy.
· CBS "Sunday Morning" correspondent Serena Altschul gave $5,000 to the Democratic Party in 2004. A spokeswoman says the network now bans such donations.
· MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, gave $4,200 to a GOP House candidate in Oregon. "Joe hosts an opinion program and is not a news reporter," a spokesman says.