[Vision2020] Washington Times kicked off Obama plane for finale: "the journalistic equivalent of redistributing the wealth"

[No Weatherman]

This was the funniest post you've ever written!



On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 4:23 PM, Donovan Arnold
<donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Was it in flight?
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Donovan
>
> --- On Fri, 10/31/08, No Weatherman <no.weatherman at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: No Weatherman <no.weatherman at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Vision2020] Washington Times kicked off Obama plane for finale:
> "the journalistic equivalent of redistributing the wealth"
> To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Date: Friday, October 31, 2008, 8:14 AM
>
> Washington Times kicked off Obama plane for finale
> The Washington Times
> Friday, October 31, 2008
>
> The Washington Times, which has covered the Barack Obama campaign from
> the start, was kicked off the Democrat's campaign plane for the final
> 72 hours of the race.
>
> The Obama campaign informed the newspaper Thursday evening of its
> decision, which came two days after The Times editorial page endorsed
> Senator John McCain over Mr. Obama. The Times editorial page runs
> completely independent of the news department.
>
> "This feels like the journalistic equivalent of redistributing the
> wealth, we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars covering Senator
> Obama's campaign, traveling on his plane, and taking our turn in the
> reporter's pool, only to have our seat given away to someone else in
> the last days of the campaign," said Washington Times Executive Editor
> John Solomon.
>
> "I hope the candidate that promises to unite America isn't using a
> litmus test to determine who gets to cover his campaign."
>
> The Times formally protested the decision, noting that it has one of
> the top 20 largest newspaper Web sites in the country, distributes its
> print edition in the key battleground state of Virginia, and has had
> its stories repeatedly cited by Mr. Obama and other Democrats
> throughout the campaign.
>
> "Sen. Obama himself demonstrated he appreciates the importance of The
> Washington Times and its news coverage. In June, he wrote a letter
> citing a Times' investigative project that highlighted government
> mistreatment of our veterans. Sen. Obama requested an investigation by
> Congress and the administration, both of which confirmed the problems
> and led to corrective action at the VA. In his August acceptance
> speech, Sen. Obama also prominently mentioned our interview with Sen.
> Phil Gramm and the now infamous comments about a 'mental recession'
> and a 'nation of whiners'," wrote Mr. Solomon in an e-mail to
> Obama
> campaign manager David Plouffe.
>
> Times reporter Christina Bellantoni, who has covered the Democratic
> campaign since 2007, is being asked to leave the campaign plane
> starting Sunday. In defending its decision, the Obama campaign said it
> respected Ms. Bellantoni's reporting and simply ran out of seats on
> the campaign plane for the finale because of high demand. It also
> noted that the Obama campaign is allowing some news media critical of
> the Democrat to travel, including Fox News.
>
> "Unfortunately, demand for seats on the plane during this final
> weekend has far exceeded supply, and because of logistical issues we
> made the decision not to add a second plane. This means we've had to
> make hard and unpleasant for all concerned decisions about limiting
> some news organizations and in some cases not being in a position to
> offer space to news organizations altogether," wrote Obama campaign
> Senior Advisor and Chief Communications Officer Anita Dunn in an
> e-mail.
>
> "There are simply no more seats on Senator Obama's plane," she
> added.
> "There are press seats available on Senator Bidens plane for travel
> this final weekend and The Washington Times is encouraged to include
> our vice presidential nominee in your coverage plans for this final
> stretch."
> http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/31/washington-times-kicked-obama-plane-finale/
>
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