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Tracking POGO, ABC News and Time

Try as hard as I might to get away from media criticism, our old friends at ABC News and Time keep popping up to reveal more about relationships between reporters and sources that seem all too cozy.

And right in the middle of all of it is the Project on Government Oversight, a so-called watchdog group that claims it isn't anti-nuclear even thought they continue to maintain that security at industry facilities can't stand up to terrorist attack.

To recap the ABC News side of the story related to the Prime Time Live report, "Loose Nukes," POGO and ABC failed to disclose that POGO had received a two-year, $200,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation, the same Carnegie Corporation that provided the ten Carnegie Fellows for the network's "Radioactive Roadtrip." The same POGO that provided consultant Richard Stockton as a source for "Loose Nukes".

Here's a passage from a piece on anonymous sources in this month's issue of American Journalism Review entitled, "Uncharted Terrain," by Rachel Smolkin:
It was a bombshell for us when we saw what Time had done," says [Danielle] Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group that works with media outlets and provides trusted reporters with names of government employees and contractors that must remain confidential. "We had always worried about a sloppy reporter, but I never thought there'd be a concerted decision made to turn over names."

She e-mailed Mark Thompson, a Time reporter she respects and has worked with for 20 years, to tell him that the magazine's actions in the Valerie Plame case will have "profound ramifications" for future collaborations with her organization.
Let's stop right there. I'm sure many of you will recall that Time feature, a story with a lot of holes that we spent a considerable amount of time debunking.

I can't help but note that Smolkin described Thompson, who has a "20-year working relationship" with Brian, as a reporter who could be "trusted".

When we first read the Time story over that weekend last June, we couldn't help but be struck that every one of the charges had surfaced before, in most cases months earlier. In other words, it seems like Thompson could be trusted to make a big splash with old allegations.

Further, I always thought it was the other way around, that it was the reporter who had to determine whether or not a source was trustworthy. I'm sorry we had it backwards for so long.

So the next time you see a story like the ones peddled by Time and ABC News, keep in mind that features like these don't just come together out of thin air.

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Comments

Matthew66 said…
Journalists, as most lobby groups know, are a lazy bunch, by and large. In a former life, I worked for an organization of the Catholic Church in Australia - if we wanted a positive story about the Church published in a newspaper (even a Catholic one) we'd write an article, include a nice photograph, and send the whole lot off as a "press release", which usually got copied and pasted into a newspaper with the religious editor's by-line. I am quite sure that this is what other organizations do as well.

If POGO, Greenpeace, Riverkeeper and the Sierra Club feed well written articles with photographs to journalists as "press releases" and then don't object when the journalist claims authorship, then their story gets told and the journalist makes his/her quota of words for the week without expending much effort (other than ctrl-c, ctrl-v).

I have also found that the the main stream media is a comfortable environment for what we call in Australia "Patio Socialists", who hold every left wing policy dear to heart, whilst enjoying the fruits of the capitalist system they claim to hate so much.
Anonymous said…
In the US, "Patio Socialist" translates to "Limousine Liberal."

On a related note, I love this quote from the comic strip Dilbert, when Dogbert becomes a conservative radio talk-show host. He says to one caller "Cry me a river, liberal."

It just seems appropriate, somehow.
Anonymous said…
You all rant on POGO... One story you have not seen in the news is the story on the Dept of Justice suing POGO.. now why is that, and what is that about . See the untold story(ya, behind the headlines, that nver were; do a google: DOJ, POGO blog qui tam, for what is not in the main line news on the DOJ suing POGO. talk about lazy reporters..this big matter has a news black-out, and worst.
Anonymous said…
FROM FOLLOW THE MONEY, on Rasor's own:
Dina Rasor, Chief Investigator, IAVA’s Follow the Money Project
The Follow the Money Project is investigating where the money appropriated for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is going, especially in support of the troops. In 1981, she founded the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) which investigates government fraud and works with whistleblowers. She still serves as POGO’s treasurer and board member. She currently runs an investigative firm, the Bauman & Rasor Group, which works on Federal whistleblower fraud lawsuits, with a specialty on Pentagon fraud. (BIG AD running constantly on MONEY and RASOR..
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The DOJ and POGO, Congressional testimony was Rasor hooked
up Lon, of Utah Esq.. up with POGO.
Lon sued by putting POGO on a qt complaint.(n texas) A Texas deal (urged by the DOJ on the so called join $$$, spun money to POGO, POGO spun it to a DOI federal employee. Then,after the $$ spun out, the DOJ sued POGO and the Federal employee.( OIL OIL OIL money... MOBIL, etc... nexis)
Ya, follow the money, seems this POGO Rasor was in the middle of some hammer operation, given the DOJ suing some so called whistleblower like that is not exactly a secret or some annoyimous deal, the name of the fedeal employee who POGO was using is on the complaint as a defendant, sued by the DOJ... Ya follow the $$$$$, sure, enough, and who was in the middle of that operation..? however, what about Vit Nam vets, who were attonreys for federal employees, unlike that LON, sonny boy brat of some ex Congressman from San Diego area. Ya, tell us about Viet Nam vets, and what this has done, impacts....
How come POGO was in the middle of soemthing that resulted in a so called whistleblower being sued..
see other blog on qui tam blog DOJ pogo for more on... there has been a news black-out seems the DOJ has not got its press releass down pat on this one.
Anonymous said…
WITCH-HUNT: Congressman George Miller's Indictment of Congressman Don Young( Miller is not a D.A., is that some phoney CA trick, MILLER is not the DOJ, he is just some blow-hard, loud mouth do noting Congressman from near Berkerly, CA)

Congressional Testimony
Congressman George Miller is the senior Democrat on the House Resources Committee and a representative from California.

Editor's Note: Representative George Miller made the following statement( which was filled with falsehoods) at an oversight hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on May 4, 2000. Congressman Don Young chairs the full committee, the House Committee on Resources.

Madame Chair and fellow members, I am attending today's oversight hearing to express my very strong concern about the manner in which this investigation is being handled.( Miller sought to obstruct a full investigation, making a shem of true Congressional oversight to search for the full truth) I believe the rights of witnesses have been abused in the process of this hearing and I believe the committee has been derelict in its investigative responsibilities. (if anything, Miller was seeking to impede the questioning of witnesses... Rasor is from CA, as is MILLER..any wonder...)

Today, the committee is investigating ostensibly whether a non-profit group and two federal employees violated any regulations or laws when the group made a public service award to the employees for their work in exposing serious under-payments of federal royalties owed to American taxpayers by numerous large oil companies. ( THE DOJ 2003 complaint in Court states something else, in way matter put in COURT)

This committee has been used time and again on behalf of special interests.(Miller ges PAC $$$$, and he is not what ??? in that area)
The committee is not investigating the fact that oil companies have regularly underpaid hundred of millions of dollars in royalties owed to the taxpayer.(Actually it is billions and MILLER does very little to deal with that, and he was never a qui tam plaintiff or an attorney for one..he just is a major bloviator...)

This committee has been used time and again on behalf of special interests(MILLER SHOULD KNOW THAT) who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.(POGO was sued by the DOJ in 2003, not covered by TOM PAIN MAGAZINE) Once again today, we find the committee coming to the aid of the oil industry that has already settled numerous cases out of court for hundreds of millions of dollars because they underpaid royalties to the taxpayer. Members of this committee and others in the House and Senate tried for years to delay the Administration's new method of determining proper royalty payments. ( a statue set that forth long before 1996).And now they have launched this investigation against those who brought the under-payments to light. ( SEE DOJ suit, MILLER mistates stuff, badly, & repeatedly in his vast bloviating crusades.)

Let me be clear.(he is a master at obfusciation) No one is condoning the potential misconduct that is being alleged. (POGO was sued by the DOJ in 2003, not covered by TOM PAIN Magazine after the big bloviating of MILLER, was printed in TOM PAIN MAG.. is it a dupe of MILLER's hot air.)

If any wrongdoing is discovered, those responsible should be held accountable. (THE DOJ sued POGO in COURT) But, the alleged wrongdoing is already under investigation by the proper authorities at the Departments of Justice and Interior. (The Clinton Administration did not sue POGO....do you smell a rat in the Clinton ADMIN... does this stand out... in the whole of matters)

When this committee's investigation was started last June, over the objections of the Department of Justice(who was doing that influence peddling, huh MILLER) , the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior( to look the other way..while billiosn were stolen from FED ACCOUNTS) and the Democratic members of this committee(POLITICAL HACKS) , the subcommittee chair said, "It isn't the intent of the committee to intervene in the [criminal investigation] at all, but we do have a need to know what is going on because we have things in front of us as far as oil valuation is concerned that are the purview of this committee.(whose members get massive big oil PAC $$$) Right now the Administration and the Minerals Management Service [have] some regulation or proposed regulation that should not go into effect ... because we don't know whether this ... payment of money has anything to do with the new regulations.( and don't care if USA accounts get bilked) We just need to know whether the two people involved had any influence on the MMS." ( a statue long before 1996 set the rights of USA to billions.. and the DOJ dropped the ball)

The Administration has testified that these two individuals did not effect the new regulations (but was it lying on that and many other matters)-- but instead of dropping the investigation, this committee has gone off on what appears to be a witch-hunt or at best a tangent -- without any additional direction or input from the members of this committee.( Wrong... crucial matters came out.... ) And we now find ourselves embroiled in a private dispute between litigants who successfully sued the oil companies for defrauding the American people of hundreds of millions of dollars.(that is totally false, the Court found it had no jurisdiciton over POGO'S complaint filed in TEXAS(federal court).. is Congressman Miller prone to be so oblivious to the truth..)

Let me describe some of the actions by the Majority that should concern every objective member of this Committee.

Dina Rasor, a member of the board of the Project on Government Oversight, was contacted by Mr. Casey of the majority staff who reportedly dismissed her repeated requests to consult with her attorney. Ms. Rasor is a private investigator, and more than a little familiar with appropriate interrogation methods and witness rights. Mr. Casey reportedly became belligerent when Ms. Rasor insisted that he speak with her attorney, and the conversation was terminated. Soon thereafter, Ms. Rasor received a subpoena to appear today. She was not afforded an opportunity to voluntarily appear as a witness. Further, due to an error by the majority staff, the subpoena was sent to a southern California branch of the U.S. Marshals' Service, and was not properly delivered to Ms. Rasor, who lives in my Bay Area district, until April 21. The majority did not inform Ms. Rasor, nor the other out-of-town witnesses they subpoenaed, that under House Rules, the committee must pay their actual travel expenses and a federal-rate per diem. My understanding is that the majority staff in fact refused to pay these expenses until my staff cited the House Rules
WITCH-HUNT: Congressman George Miller's Indictment of Congressman Don Young
TOM PAIN Magazine did not cover that the DOJ sued POGO..........................
Or did Congress look into a lot.. A REAL oversight hearing was badly obstructed... adn who did that, MILLER was part of efforts to prevent teh full truth from coming out.... What a two faced farce...
So, there we have DINA RASOR..and her white KNIGHT MILLER... from CA, . was the money being followed.. to any PAC laden people in Congress, and other....?????
Anonymous said…
More on that flaky statement of George Miller (Congressman from CA)on POGO..
The oil companies attorney appeared on oil royalty valuation regulation(s) issues, POE ... do googles on Poe Leggette oil royalty valuation. Poe is listed as an attorney for big oil companies. Poe used to work at the Dept of Interior.. , pulls in a ton of money from a big power house Texas law firm(whose clients are big oil companeis)...But the DOJ sued POGO, who had been intermeshed with some DOI employee.
See stuff on Dina Rasor.. and her two steps. the so called:FOLLOW THE $$$$$ slogans of RASOR.
Now, we read that billions were not collected in royalties in DOI.
while Miller sleeping during the Clinton Admin to allow just a vast rip off of the USA(DOI accounts), after his nauseating bloviating. see other. ?/ he gets irkd on some $400 travel tab for Rasor, while billions were being ripped off in the GULF... some WATCHDOG... what a joke
Anonymous said…
Mrs. CUBIN(Congresswoman from Wyoming in May 2000). I would like to remind the ranking member on the Committee that this underpayment by the major oil companies apparently went on for at least ten years before I became chairman of this Subcommittee, and ever since I have been chairman of this Committee, for the last three-and-a-half years, we have recognized the problem and we have sought a solution. While Mr. Miller did not like our proposed solution, if he is being honest, he should be hard pressed to say that we have not recognized the problem and sought a solution.
( Billions were ripped off in the GULF in the late 1990's, while both Miller and Cubin did absolutely nothing of major substance, depriving the State of La, of funding for adequate infra structure, like for levees... near New Orleans.
All that came out of Miller was his hot air, as if he likes to hear wind come out of his windy mouth, never dealing with problems of accountability in the USA, and federal accounts. Cubin filled her PAC coffers with massive big oil $$$$$, what a sham... but the DOJ did sue POGO, surely even Razor can't spin that on its fellow in the DOI, her silent beltway song bird, was just what, in actuality...??/ IN the 15 page DOJ complaint in the 2003 civil action, agaisnt POGO
Anonymous said…
If you ---- NEI--- are tracking POGO, and TIME, and ABC... what is your explanation of no ABC , TIME story on
DOJ v. POGO, where the DOJ sued POGO. ?
see, google in: blog doj, pogo, qui tam
Anonymous said…
POGO and D.... are tracking the money, according to the latest, follow the money....they were following death certificates(MISSY Pentagon underground, swamp foxy in CA, before a law suit filed, again VON pops up.... who had been the POGO ESQUIRE IN operation oilY Texas QT, with LON.... LON & VON....
So, TIME fussion, fission, nuclear, autos, ... POGO is the tracker... not the trackee, (MUCHO .. )according to its Many P. R. releases all under the banner of OVERSIGHT....
As to sight, and byte... googles is
info way street... to keep informed, isn't it ???/
Anonymous said…
Tracking John Aschrof's lobby $$$$, might take a cray computer, given how he signed up so many (large cororations)post DOJ. See article on DOJ(ex) Aschroft in the March 17th, 2006 New York Times biz section...POGO Director pops up in same NY Times piece.
POGO was sued during the BUSH era, while Aschroft AG... Quick buck Johnny on K Street for his
influence peddling galore...
He brags how much moeny he is raking in... in the piece....
CASH in JOHN.....the culture of beltway double shuffle.
Strange how POGo pops up in the middle of so much stuff as the go to for a quick quote from the TIMES, or assorted...

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