David Corn, One more thing
Much has been made of my rather satirical post asking David Corn to explain his articles defending his friend Viveca Novak in the Valerie Plame affair. I’ve talked to David in the past and have always thought of him as a good guy and fine reporter, but I felt that since I’ve been openly critical of Tina Brown, Michael Isikoff, Bob Woodward, Andrea Mitchell, Howard Kurtz, and Judy Miller for either giving a free pass to fellow journalists or helping to spread propaganda-I should treat David equally. David said I "politely hinted" that he was being disingenuous and I was.
Just the other day, I learned through anonymous sources that David and Michael Isikoff are collaborating on a new book. I find this fascinating. I’m sure it will be a good read too, however as I looked to see if there was a formal announcement of the new project-I found that David wrote a similar piece defending Isikoff of criticism from Media Matters. David candidly says:
"Admittedly I have a bias in favor of a friend."
No matter how many good stories Michael writes his credibility is shot over the Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky affairs. We need David in the good fight to make sure this administration and any other one is held accountable to the positions they take. If journalists come out in defense of each other after they use questionable judgement, it makes them look like a special interest group that protects its own. How can the American people trust what is written then? You can still choose to defend your buddies, that’s a choice to make, but you open yourself up to heightened scrutiny and the accusation of veiled motives when you do.
Please come back David, because if you don’t stop now you run the risk of turning into another Andrea Mitchell, who was recently quoted on the Don Imus Show saying:
Imus: "It seems unclear what you said and perhaps you can clear it up about what you said back in Oct. of 2003---
Mitchell: "I have been trying to figure out "what-the-heck" I was talking about, frankly. There is confusion because I am confused."
