A Video Too Far

One of the ongoing complaints about the mainstream media is that it too often serves as nothing more than a mouthpiece for government propaganda. This is a dangerous setup as democracy is hindered if the people are kept in the dark. In order for average citizens to have the opportunity to make well thought out decisions, it is imperative that news and information is presented from a variety of perspectives. If the only allowed perspective is that of the corporate-infused government, then the people turn into little robots and not thinking individuals.

So, the following story from Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) is more than a bit discomforting.

The San Francisco Chronicle is apparently in trouble with the White House for posting video of a protest against the White House's treatment of suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning. The Chronicle's Carolyn Lochhead reports:

The White House threatened Thursday to exclude the San Francisco Chronicle from pooled coverage of its events in the Bay Area after the paper posted a video of a protest at a San Francisco fundraiser for President Obama last week, Chronicle editor Ward Bushee said. White House guidelines governing press coverage of such events are too restrictive, Bushee said, and the newspaper was within its rights to film the protest and post the video.

Chronicle reporter Carla Marinucci was the designated "pool" reporter at an Obama fundraiser -- meaning that her write-up would be shared with other reporters who were not allowed into the event.

But something truly newsworthy happened -- and she reported it:

At the St. Regis event, a group of protesters who paid collectively $76,000 to attend the fundraiser interrupted Obama with a song complaining about the administration's treatment of PFC Bradley Manning, the soldier who allegedly leaked U.S. classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.

As part of a "print-only pool," Marinucci was limited by White House guidelines to provide a print-only report, but Marinucci also took a video of the protest, which she posted in her written story on the online edition of the Chronicle at SFGate.com and on its politics blog after she sent her written pool report.

The Chronicle's story closes with this ironic point about the White House's view of technology and information-sharing:

At Facebook the day before the San Francisco fundraiser, Obama said, "The main reason we wanted to do this is, first of all, because more and more people, especially young people, are getting their information through different media. And obviously, what all of you have built together is helping to revolutionize how people get information, how they process information, how they're connecting with each other."

Apparently Marinucci posting a video was a little too much revolutionizing.

Of course, threats such as this will send a chill through the mainstream press corps. Reporters now will be more apt to self-censor in order not to run afoul of potential government threats to be blacklisted too. I think Lancing Scott at Eat the State! summed up the situation darn well.

“Bad media!” sez government. “Bradley Manning bad man! Bad protesters for supporting bad man! Bad media for reporting on bad protesters supporting bad man! Bad bad bad!!! No more biscuit!”