So along comes Jake Tapper [1], speaking to Bobby “the mouthpiece” Gibbs [2] at a White House Gaggle:
[3]
Jake Tapper
Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –
(Crosstalk)
Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.
Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –
Gibbs: ABC –
Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?
Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o’clock tonight. Or 5 o’clock this afternoon.
Tapper: I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a “news organization” — why is that appropriate for the White House to say?
Gibbs: That’s our opinion.
Right, Bobby.
So, tell us, oh, vaunted master of the news cycle, what the bleep Rachel Maddow [4] and Keith Olberman [5] were doing in the room? And tell us, given the activities of they and a few other notable crazies inhabiting that channel, does MSNBC count as a “News Org”? Why?
See, I guess the real question here is this: Is the White House’s definition of what is a news org limited to those who act like they’re the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party?