Who is Ron Fournier?
According to Rand Paul Wikipedia, “Ron Fournier (born 1963) is an American national political journalist currently of the National Journal. Fournier had previously served as Washington bureau chief at the Associated Press (AP) until leaving in In June 2010.”
Oh, but Ron Fournier is so much more than a mere national political journalist: Ron Fournier is a voice crying in the wilderness—or at least talking to Laura Ingraham, which is much the same thing. Here is a brief article by Catherine Thompson (from Talking Points Memo) describing Mr. Fournier’s latest prophetic rant:
Ron Fournier: White House ‘Propaganda Outfit’ Selling Obamacare
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ron-fournier-white-house-propaganda-outfit-selling-obamacare
National Journal Columnist Ron Fournier on Wednesday accused the Obama administration of "running a government-sponsored media organization."
Speaking with conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham, Fournier referred to his Monday column on how hard it's going to be for the administration to "sell Obamacare," arguing the push to promote the online federal health exchange "could be the nail in the coffin" for the health care law.
"But anyhow, they have to sell it, but they can’t over sell it," Fournier told Ingraham. "They can’t spin, and they have a hard time not spinning. Last week I did a column that just focused on what they do with photos, that shows that this is a propaganda outfit, that they do put out government sponsored propaganda, and they are running a government-sponsored media organization."
"Now, in fairness, Bush did it more than Clinton, and Clinton did it more than Bush, and that Bush did it more than Reagan," he continued. "But it’s going to an extreme now that’s really unhealthy for them."
I especially like the “in fairness” caveat buried at the end of the story. I guess “Every Administration Does It” would have been a less compelling headline.
Before deciding that the government’s attempts to inform and, yes, sell the American public on Obamacare constitute “propaganda,” Fournier had recently busied himself decrying the White House’s Soviet-style “monopolistic” restrictions on press photographers: the press, it seems, has been barred from some White House events entirely and has been limited to inferior camera angles at others! Coupled with the Obama administration’s use of social media which didn’t exist in the past but certainly would never have been used in any propagandistic way by previous Presidents, this limitation on press photography sets a chilling precedent—says Fournier and his buddies at the Associated Press:
Obama's Image Machine: Monopolistic Propaganda Funded By You
(http://www.nationaljournal.com/pictures-video/obama-s-image-machine-monopolistic-propaganda-funded-by-you-20131121)
New York Times photographer Doug Mills strode into Jay Carney's office Oct. 29 with a pile of pictures taken exclusively by President Obama's official photographer at events the White House press corps was forbidden to cover. "This one," Mills said, sliding one picture after another off his stack and onto the press secretary's desk. "This one, too--and this one and this one and …"
The red-faced photographer, joined by colleagues on the White House Correspondents' Association board, finished his 10-minute presentation with a flourish that made Carney, a former Moscow correspondent for Time, wince.
"You guys," Mills said, "are just like Tass."
Comparing the White House to the Russian news agency is a hyperbole, of course, but less so with each new administration. Obama's image-makers are taking advantage of new technologies that democratized the media, subverting independent news organizations that hold the president accountable. A generation ago, a few mainstream media organizations held a monopoly on public information about the White House. Today, the White House itself is behaving monopolistically."
There you have it: "just like Tass"--a hyperbole, of course, but a helpful one.1 Now, I’m foursquare in favor of freedom of the press and foursquare opposed to government propaganda, though I may have different definitions of those things than does Ron Fournier. But at least Fournier is fighting the good fight, honest, objective journalist that he is, speaking truth to power, being a gadfly, a thorn in the side of—oh, wait; here is something more about Ron Fournier from Rand Paul Wikipedia:
“In July 2008, while investigators for the House Oversight Committee were looking into the death of Pat Tillman, they uncovered a 2004 email from Fournier to Karl Rove encouraging him to "keep up the fight."
On August 23, 2008, following U.S. Senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's announcement of his selection of SenatorJoe Biden as a running mate, Fournier wrote a widely circulated piece titled "Analysis: Biden pick shows lack of confidence". A Washington Monthly columnist described the piece as "mirror[ing] the Republican line with minimal variation". Editor & Publisher noted that Fournier's article "gained wide linkage at the Drudge Report, Hot Air and numerous other conservative sites...." and was targeted by MoveOn.org for alleged bias, a criticism also alleged by liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America.
In February 2013, Fournier wrote a column about breaking ties with a White House official after a pattern of "vulgarity, abusive language" and "veiled threat(s)", but did not identify the official due to his policy of granting blanket automatic anonymity to all his sources. Fournier received some criticism from commentator Glenn Greenwald for behaving in a "petulant" manner and for his policy on anonymity for sources.”
Both Charlie Pierce (at Esquire) and Paul Krugman (New York Times) have weighed in on Ron Fournier’s journalistic “objectivity”. In fairness, Fournier has an evident grudge and is conducting a public vendetta against this White House. Since he is certain now to become a darling of the right-wing for daring to expose the Obama administration’s perfidy, it will be a good idea going forward to keep his credentials, his history, and his agenda in mind.
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1 Doug Mills, the red-faced New York Times photographer who dared to confront Jay Carney, was summarily taken out and shot: such is Obama's New World Order (same as the Old Soviet World Order).
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