Pincus, You're Really Not That Special

Walter Pincus pleads for a ludicrous standard in news coverage, as Stephen Spruiell notes in an item today (and thanks for the links over there):

Via Romenesko, Walter Pincus writes in Nieman Reports that journalists need to stop printing politicians' spin:

A new element of courage in journalism would be for editors and reporters to decide not to cover the President's statements when he — or any public figure — repeats essentially what he or she has said before. The Bush team also has brought forward another totally PR gimmick: The President stands before a background that highlights the key words of his daily message. This tactic serves only to reinforce that what's going on is public relations — not governing. Journalistic courage should include the refusal to publish in a newspaper or carry on a TV or radio news show any statements made by the President or any other government official that are designed solely as a public relations tool, offering no new or valuable information to the public.

Now, dear reader, how many acres of white space would open upon the pages of the Post if we applied that standard to Pincus, or any other reporter? How many times are we reminded that the Bush Administration never found WMD in Iraq? How many times are we told--falsely, no less--that claims about Iraq seeking uranium in Niger were "unsupported"? How many times does the Post spin its own version of the war in Iraq with a picture of violent destruction, and how on earth is that different from the Bush Administration using its own props to tell its own story?

Pick a topic, any topic.

But that's  mainstream media these days. They're special. They get to print their own spin right before the election, while the rest of us are gagged by the bans placed on our proxies by McCain-Feingold. They expose national security secrets, but woe betide the critic who wishes to expose the media's  sources. And now, according to Pincus, the press can endlessely recite every true and imagined mis-step made by President Bush, but the administration cannot keep answering.

Because that would be repetitive.

Linked at Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks