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1. Mitchell Frets Firing Means CIA Staffers Won't Talk to Reporters
NBC's Andrea Mitchell complained Monday night, on MSNBC's Countdown, about how the CIA's firing of a staffer ostensibly for leaking top secret information to a reporter, will mean CIA officials will no longer have the "courage or the stupidity" to talk to reporters. After relaying how, through friends the fired staffer, Mary McCarthy, had denied being a source for the Washington Post's secret CIA prison story, though she conceded having unauthorized interaction with journalists, Mitchell contended that intimidation of the rest of the staff was the real motivation for firing McCarthy: "The purpose is don't even have lunch with reporters. The purpose is don't have dinner with reporters. Don't pick up the phone if a reporter is calling. It doesn't matter what you say, you're not supposed to have contact with reporters without telling the higher-ups." Maybe the CIA wouldn't have such concerns if they had any faith in journalists to act more responsibly than did the Washington Post's Dana Priest.
2. Cokie and Steve Roberts Praise Stories on Bush's "Abuse of Power"
Add Cokie and Steve Roberts to the growing list of journalists praising the Washington Post and New York Times stories which exposed ongoing secret anti-terrorism efforts and also won Pulitzer Prizes. The latest joint syndicated column by the married couple, ABC News reporter Cokie Roberts and long-time New York Times reporter Steve Roberts who now teaches at George Washington University, championed how the Pulitzer Prizes prove the necessity of newspapers because "they recognize the sort of journalism -- courageous, costly and comprehensive -- that only papers can provide." Specifically, the duo declared: "The biggest story that newspapers unearthed last year was the abuse of power by the Bush administration." The two admiringly cited how "the Post won an award for revealing a system of secret prisons maintained by the CIA in Eastern Europe to interrogate terrorism suspects. The Times disclosed a program of clandestine government eavesdropping that many lawyers have denounced as illegal."
3. "Top Ten Ways President Bush Can Raise His Approval Rating"
As submitted by readers of the Late Show Newsletter and Web site, the "Top Ten Ways President Bush Can Raise His Approval Rating."
 Mitchell Frets Firing Means CIA Staffers
Won't Talk to Reporters
NBC's Andrea Mitchell complained Monday night, on MSNBC's Countdown, about how the CIA's firing of a staffer ostensibly for leaking top secret information to a reporter, will mean CIA officials will no longer have the "courage or the stupidity" to talk to reporters. After relaying how, through friends the fired staffer, Mary McCarthy, had denied being a source for the Washington Post's secret CIA prison story, though she conceded having unauthorized interaction with journalists, Mitchell contended that intimidation of the rest of the staff was the real motivation for firing McCarthy: "The purpose is don't even have lunch with reporters. The purpose is don't have dinner with reporters. Don't pick up the phone if a reporter is calling. It doesn't matter what you say, you're not supposed to have contact with reporters without telling the higher-ups." Maybe the CIA wouldn't have such concerns if they had any faith in journalists to act more responsibly than did the Washington Post's Dana Priest.
"Fired CIA officer denies leak of classified data; Attorney: Analyst had no access to information she is accused of leaking," read MSNBC.com's headline over its 7:47pm EDT-posted story: www.msnbc.msn.com
Tuesday's Washington Post has a more complete front page story, "Dismissed CIA Officer Denies Leak Role: Official Says Agency Is Not Asserting She Told of Secret Prisons." See: www.washingtonpost.com
[This item was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. To post your comments, go to: newsbusters.org ]
The 8pm EDT April 24 Countdown began with "Breaking News" on screen over this explanation, "'Fired' leaker categorically denies divulging classified CIA information." Olbermann's first guest: NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell. Picking up three-fourths through the segment, after Mitchell related how McCarthy had already submitted her resignation in February, with her CIA time concluding in a week, so she could switch to a career as a lawyer:
Keith Olbermann, referring to how she was fired after she had already quit: "But does it not support her theory, or what would be behind her claim, that scape-goating might not be an inappropriate term here?"
Andrea Mitchell, from NBC's Washington bureau: "Well she hasn't said that, but certainly her friends are saying that. Look, Porter Goss and the CIA want to serve up a lesson that leaks are really serious and they've got to be stopped. And frankly, people within the CIA, even critics of administration pre-war intelligence and all the rest, former and current CIA officers, say that leaks are terrible and that no one should leak national security. They take an oath not to do that. She says she didn't do that. The CIA is saying she did, or whoever this unnamed person is of unknown gender, who they won't name did do exactly that. So they want to send a message out, now they've found someone who was about to retire and they're sending a very tough message. The bottom line is that no one is going to have the courage or the stupidity, however you put it, or the, ah, the, I don't know, the will to talk to reporters from now on. Very few people will, because they can see right now from this example, what can happen to them."
Olbermann: "But that CIA message that you mentioned, didn't it just become a CIA mixed message, having lunch with a reporter is the same as giving secrets to a reporter? Is that not going to turn what the purpose of this was, to some degree, up on its head?"
Mitchell: "Ah, but what is the purpose? The purpose is don't even have lunch with reporters. The purpose is don't have dinner with reporters. Don't pick up the phone if a reporter is calling. It doesn't matter what you say, you're not supposed to have contact with reporters without telling the higher-ups."
 Cokie and Steve Roberts Praise Stories
on Bush's "Abuse of Power"
Add Cokie and Steve Roberts to the growing list of journalists praising the Washington Post and New York Times stories which exposed ongoing secret anti-terrorism efforts and also won Pulitzer Prizes. The latest joint syndicated column by the married couple, ABC News reporter Cokie Roberts and long-time New York Times reporter Steve Roberts who now teaches at George Washington University, championed how the Pulitzer Prizes prove the necessity of newspapers because "they recognize the sort of journalism -- courageous, costly and comprehensive -- that only papers can provide." Specifically, the duo declared: "The biggest story that newspapers unearthed last year was the abuse of power by the Bush administration." The two admiringly cited how "the Post won an award for revealing a system of secret prisons maintained by the CIA in Eastern Europe to interrogate terrorism suspects. The Times disclosed a program of clandestine government eavesdropping that many lawyers have denounced as illegal."
The April 24 CyberAlert item, "Journalists on Sunday Shows Hail Leaker for Exposing Prisons," recounted: Far from condemning a CIA officials damaging leak of classified information about ongoing efforts to prevent terrorism, on the Sunday morning interview shows, three panelists -- a former network White House correspondent, a newspaper and radio veteran and a current network anchor -- hailed Mary McCarthy, the CIA staffer fired last week for telling the Washington Post's Dana Priest about secret prisons in Eastern Europe. ABC's Sam Donaldson heralded the revelations as "a victory for the American people" and compared her actions to those sitting at lunch counters in the 1960s, NPR's Juan Williams trumpeted her "right to speak" and her "act of conscience" and CBS's Bob Schieffer characterized the prisons as what "scares" him and claimed the "CIA fired an agent" just "for hanging out" with a reporter. See: www.mediaresearch.org
Another April 24 CyberAlert item related how, citing the Washington Post story on the then-secret prisons and the New York Times article disclosing terrorist surveillance efforts, both of which won Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, NPR's Nina Totenberg declared on Inside Washington that nefarious Bush administration practices justified the decision to reward the two newspapers: "It's a good thing that they won for those intelligence stories because the Bush administration is investigating now and is threatening to subpoena and conceivably jail those reporters. So I think it's important that those stories be rewarded as something important to have done." See: www.mediaresearch.org
I caught the Roberts/Roberts column on Romenesko, though he didn't highlight the portion which interested me. Romenesko's page: www.poynter.org
"Pulitzers answered the 'dead tree' question," asserted the headline over the column as printed in the April 23 Sun-Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi. An excerpt:
 A frequently asked question as industry circulation figures and stock prices continue to slide is whether newspapers are still needed. Steve's college students seldom read papers printed on "dead trees" (although they do read them online). And the recent sale of the Knight-Ridder chain, demanded by disgruntled investors, demonstrates the depth of the crisis.
Still, the answer to the question is an emphatic yes. Just look at the Pulitzer prizes announced this past week. They recognize the sort of journalism -- courageous, costly and comprehensive -- that only papers can provide.
"Prizes don't always say anything terribly important about the state of our business," said Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, which won three awards, "but this year's Pulitzers do, and what they say is the country never needed us more than they do today."...
The biggest story that newspapers unearthed last year was the abuse of power by the Bush administration. The Post won an award for revealing a system of secret prisons maintained by the CIA in Eastern Europe to interrogate terrorism suspects. The Times disclosed a program of clandestine government eavesdropping that many lawyers have denounced as illegal.
In both cases, the Bush administration pleaded with the papers to withhold publication. In both cases, the papers listened seriously, as they should, to the requests. Both papers made adjustments - the Post omitted the exact location of the prisons, the Times delayed publication for a year - but in both cases the editors ultimately decided that the public deserved to know what its government was doing. As Post editor Len Downie put it, holding a government accountable for its actions "is the most important work that a newspaper can do."...
For the column in full: www.sunherald.com
The column is syndicated by United Feature Syndicate's Newspaper Enterprise Association. Their page for the weekly column: www.unitedfeatures.com
 "Top Ten Ways President Bush Can Raise
His Approval Rating"
As submitted by readers last week and published in this week's Late Show Newsletter, the "Top Ten Ways President Bush Can Raise His Approval Rating." The Late Show with David Letterman is in re-runs until the May sweeps begin on Thursday, so in the absence of any political/news media Top Tens on the show, a pretty good list of submissions in the Late Show's weekly "Top Ten Contest" for subscribers to the Late Show Newsletter and visitors to the Late Show Web page. For this week's contest topic (winners get a Late Show mouse pad): www.cbs.com
Now, from the April 24 newsletter, with the names of those with the winning entries:
10. Hire Jack Bauer to find Osama Bin Laden.
- Marty D., Oregon, OH
9. Reunite Nick and Jessica.
- Gregg G., Lincoln, NE
8. Announce his next big mission is to get those people on "Lost" home safely.
- Scott S., Hillsboro, WI
7. Replace Laura with the First Lady of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
- Caroline L., Philadelphia, PA
6. Get Eva Longoria to give his speeches for him.
- Emily U., Oakville, ON
5. Pass a bill that forces Ben Affleck to stop acting.
- Dan G., St. Louis, MO
4. Put brother Jeb in charge of counting approval ratings.
- Keith B., West Chester, PA
3. Free tacos when approval rating hits 40%.
- Marty M., Bassett, VA
2. Since that 2000 election was so darn close, let Gore be President for last two years.
- David J., Livonia, MI
1. Fire Cheney, hire Oprah.
- Marian S., Raleigh, NC
I like #5. Why? Check this April 10 CyberAlert item, posted with video: On Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, actor Ben Affleck charged that President Bush "probably also leaked" Valerie Plame's name and so "if he did, you can be hung for that! That's treason!" In full rant, an apoplectic Affleck asserted: "You could be killed. That's not a joking around Tom DeLay 'I'll do a year, I bribed the state officials with corporate money.' That's like they shoot you in the battlefield for doing that." See: www.mediaresearch.org
-- Brent Baker
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NBC's Andrea Mitchell complained Monday night, on MSNBC's Countdown, about how the CIA's firing of a staffer ostensibly for leaking top secret information to a reporter, will mean CIA officials will no longer have the "courage or the stupidity" to talk to reporters. After relaying how, through friends the fired staffer, Mary McCarthy, had denied being a source for the Washington Post's secret CIA prison story, though she conceded having unauthorized interaction with journalists, Mitchell contended that intimidation of the rest of the staff was the real motivation for firing McCarthy: "The purpose is don't even have lunch with reporters. The purpose is don't have dinner with reporters. Don't pick up the phone if a reporter is calling. It doesn't matter what you say, you're not supposed to have contact with reporters without telling the higher-ups." Maybe the CIA wouldn't have such concerns if they had any faith in journalists to act more responsibly than did the Washington Post's Dana Priest. 
The 8pm EDT April 24 Countdown began with "Breaking News" on screen over this explanation, "'Fired' leaker categorically denies divulging classified CIA information." Olbermann's first guest: NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell. Picking up three-fourths through the segment, after Mitchell related how McCarthy had already submitted her resignation in February, with her CIA time concluding in a week, so she could switch to a career as a lawyer: 
Add Cokie and Steve Roberts to the growing list of journalists praising the Washington Post and New York Times stories which exposed ongoing secret anti-terrorism efforts and also won Pulitzer Prizes. The latest joint syndicated column by the married couple, ABC News reporter Cokie Roberts and long-time New York Times reporter Steve Roberts who now teaches at George Washington University, championed how the Pulitzer Prizes prove the necessity of newspapers because "they recognize the sort of journalism -- courageous, costly and comprehensive -- that only papers can provide." Specifically, the duo declared: "The biggest story that newspapers unearthed last year was the abuse of power by the Bush administration." The two admiringly cited how "the Post won an award for revealing a system of secret prisons maintained by the CIA in Eastern Europe to interrogate terrorism suspects. The Times disclosed a program of clandestine government eavesdropping that many lawyers have denounced as illegal."
A frequently asked question as industry circulation figures and stock prices continue to slide is whether newspapers are still needed. Steve's college students seldom read papers printed on "dead trees" (although they do read them online). And the recent sale of the Knight-Ridder chain, demanded by disgruntled investors, demonstrates the depth of the crisis. 