Wednesday, February 4, 2009

ABC’s Chief Washington Correspondent in Democrats’ Pocket

With each passing day, the mainstream media is dropping all pretence of objectivity or fairness. The latest example is former Democrat-operative-turned-journalist George Stephanopoulos, ABC’s chief Washington correspondent and host of the Sunday news program “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”

The Politico blog last week revealed that Stephanopoulos has daily phone discussions with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Democrat strategist James Carville and another former Democrat-operative-turned-journalist Paul Begala of CNN.

At the very least, there is the appearance of impropriety on the part of Stephanopoulos. This is a clear violation of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Among those tenants are:

Journalists should:

— Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
— Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
— Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
— Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.

The Media Research Center, a watchdog group, has written an open letter to ABC President David Westin asking that the network publicly address and resolve this issue. So far, both Westin and Stephanopolous have responded with silence.

It is no wonder why the mainstream media is losing viewers and readers. The public no longer trusts them, nor do they deserve to be trusted.

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