Helen Thomas Slams Obama Administration for Controlling Media
Helen Thomas didn't start the battles at yesterday's press briefing, but she certainly highlighted them. Thomas came to the defense of CBS News correspondent Chip Reid, when he tried to ask Press Secretary Robert Gibbs how Obama would choose questions for tonight's town hall meeting in Virginia.
Reid stated that the administration was controlling both who was going to attend, and what kind of questions would be asked. When Gibbs tried to brush him off, Helen Thomas injected herself in her usual, no-nonsense fashion.
Since Thomas is famous for heated confrontations with press secretaries, and even Presidents, her remarks got more attention. Particularly since Helen Thomas often makes more newsworthy remarks than the press secretary and the President, as they fuel the debate over media coverage and bias one way or another.
In this case, Thomas told Gibbs that no other White House tried to put this much control over media coverage, and slammed him for doing so despite the administration's calls for "openness and transparency."
But Thomas saved her biggest quote for afterward, as she told CNS News that not even Richard Nixon had tried to control the media this way. Thomas not only put the Nixon administration on a higher ground than Obama in this area, she didn't even mention George W. Bush as part of it.
So for the moment, the conservative blogs and pundits are praising Helen Thomas for once, saying that she burst through the bubble of Obama's cozy relationship with the liberal media. But criticism of President Obama is no longer exclusively for conservatives, as the grumbling from the liberal base is building up over the President.
If the Obama administration lost Helen Thomas, who has been made to be the ultimate liberal media caricature, then the floodgates of Obama criticism are all but open.
Sources
CNS News- "Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama" www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx
CBS News- "CBS' Chip Reid, Gibbs Spar Over 'Town Hall'" www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/07/02/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5129482.shtml
Newsbusters- "When Even Helen Thomas Denounced Obama Media Manipulation, You Know It's Out Of Control" newsbusters.org/blogs/nb-staff/2009/07/02/bozell-when-even-helen-thomas-denounced-obama-media-manipulation-you-know-
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16 Comments
Post a CommentAs more and more Americans are learning this president has his own agenda and it's not the agenda for the American people.
Accolades to Helen Thomas. Finally, someone is questioning this pathetic excuse for a president. He has done more in 6 months to destroy the American way of life and take away our freedoms than anyone else since this country was founded
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! I am the great and powerful Wizard of Oz!" AH, HA HA HA!!
Obama thinks he can manipulate the media to bamboozle and pitch the public, and he almost got away with it! Dorothy (Helen) and Toto (Chip) to reveal the sham.
Helen Thomas is a major liberal, so if even she notices something stinks with a Democrat President, it really reeks!
I'm laughing and it ain't even funny. All you people that voted for him are now saying how shocked you are that he lied! He lied to get here, the media lied to get him here and you bought it.
The questions are "pre-packaged" as Helen refers to it because Obama is too much of a moron to answer questions on the spot. Haven't you noticed that he can't speak in public unless he has his teleprompter, or the questions and answers have been arranged beforehand? This clown is 3x worse than Bush....and Bush did his fair share of damage.
way to go, keep 'em honest Helen, thanks for not cowering down to Obama, if you lose your seat we will all know why, but, we will stand behind you all the way.......
WAY TO GO HELEN! Kudos to you for standing up to the White House Press Secretary and slapping the Obama administration in the face. It's about time that someone points out their controlling ways. Maybe the rest of the American press will FINALLY open their eyes and see the other things that the Obama Admin and Congress are trying to grasp complete control of: health care, banks, car companies, etc. Look at how quickly the gov't has taken control of those things - imagine how quickly they will take control of our personal lives, IF WE DON'T STOP THEM IN THEIR TRACKS!!! DON'T TREAD ON ME!!!
Helen will disappear -- her seat will be filled with an air head obamanite.
Helen,You still got it!!! Keep then HONEST!!
Finally. That you Helen. Would the Zombie Media please wake up. At this critical time in America, we need a news media with guts.