Horses Mouth March 7, 2007 2:35 PM

The Politico's Editors Respond Over Dan Gerstein Flap: We Committed A "Misdemeanor"
March 7, 2007 -- 2:35 PM EST // View Comments (40) // Post a Comment

Since this blog spent so much time hectoring The Politico for letting Dan Gerstein write a piece attacking Joe Lieberman's high-profile critics without disclosing that he was on Lieberman's payroll at the same time, it seems only fair to note that The Politico's editors have finally responded.

In the course of a very spirited public debate The Politico is now having with Media Matters, Politico bigs John Harris and Jim VandeHei, along with Politico writer Ben Smith, all weighed in on the Gerstein flap. The response, in essence, was to concede that they'd screwed up, while maintaining that their good intentions were revealed by the fact that they'd noted a less direct link between Lieberman and Gerstein. As Harris puts it, this was a "misdemeanor."

Anyway, their full responses are here. Here are some excerpts.

Jim VandeHei:

On Gerstein: Yes, we muffed it. We should have clearly stated Gerstein is a paid adviser to Sen. Joe Lieberman. It was wrong to assume our readers would know Gerstein is not only a Liebermaniac but a paid one at that!

John Harris:

As long as we are talking about the left's critique of Politico, we'd be remiss in not addressing the criticism we are getting, mostly from liberal blogs, for running Democratic operative Dan Gerstein's attack on the left-wing blogosphere without saying that the former communications director for Sen. Joe Lieberman happens to STILL be on his payroll...On the misdemeanor charges, we all are looking for a plea bargain. Yes, we messed up by not disclosing Gerstein’s financial arrangement.

Ben Smith:

Second, and less important, it might have been worth mentioning that Lieberman was a client, as Gerstein's piece continued and amplified a running battle between him and his/Lieberman's enemies. I say this was minor, despite the criticism from Greg Sargent and several others, because we did disclose the central point -- that he is a Lieberman partisan.

And that, dear readers, is truly the last you'll hear about this. Barring future developments, of course. (Kidding.) Incidentally, the whole battle between Media Matters and The Politico is worth a read. Media Matters' critique is here. The Politico's response is here.

To visit the homepage of this blog, where you can see many more posts, click here.

-- Greg Sargent | Comments (40) | Post a Comment

COMMENTS:

I still say you're getting more responsiveness from the Politico on these issues than from virtually any other media outlet. Worth keeping in mind.

Posted by: Steve
Date: March 7, 2007 2:42 PM

I agree, Steve. There's a bunch of speculation out there today that they were doing it just for buzz, but I'm happy to believe that their motives were good here...

Posted by: greg
Date: March 7, 2007 2:46 PM

So they want a plea bargain.

Well, it depends on what penalty they are willing to undergo.

Let's hear the penalties.

Posted by: TheraP
Date: March 7, 2007 2:48 PM

my preferred penalty: No more transparent "blog baiting"

Posted by: greg
Date: March 7, 2007 2:50 PM

If they cope a plea, can we get them to roll over for a bigger fish ?

Posted by: COLORADO BOB
Date: March 7, 2007 2:55 PM

FYI- Both links at the end are to Politico, you should at least give one link to the good guys.

Posted by: AJ
Date: March 7, 2007 2:55 PM

the Media Matters piece was posted at The Politico

Posted by: greg
Date: March 7, 2007 2:57 PM

Jim VandeHei is being either naive or dishonest when he claims to assume "their readers would know [Dan] Gerstein is not only a Liebermaniac but a paid one at that!"

I spend every day reading political news and I did NOT know about Dan Gerstein. In fact, until I read your story, I had never even heard the name.

Posted by: poetry
Date: March 7, 2007 3:06 PM

Yes, well we all know that EVERY ethical offense by the media powers-that-be is only a misdemeanor, whereas it's ALWAYS a capital offense when a blogger takes money from a politician -- even if they disclosed it in full.

One pictures Messrs. Harris, VandeHei and Smith sniffing their own farts and pronouncing the scent "a little off, but basically just like roses."

Posted by: PeterP
Date: March 7, 2007 3:15 PM

At least they had the courage to admit they were wrong unlike certain other media outlets that have in the past resorted to ignoring the issue of responding with personal insults.

The LW blogsphere is having a good year...

calling people on their BS and getting results....

Posted by: Lib4
Date: March 7, 2007 3:19 PM

Im down with a plea bargain. But, that means they have to serve some sort of sentence. I propose they run a response piece to Gerstein's by a prominent, anti-Lieberman blogger and that if they paid Gerstein for his piece that they pay the same rate to whichever blogger they pick.

Posted by: Mike M.
Date: March 7, 2007 3:20 PM

"Democratic operative Dan Gerstein"

They're lying again.

Posted by: Jim
Date: March 7, 2007 3:24 PM

Is Dan Gerstein even a Democrat? His professional biography lists service only to Senator Lieberman.

Check it out here: http://www.dangerstein.com/biography.html

Given his age and his long tenure working for Lieberman, it is impossible to conclude that describing him as a Democratic operative is accurate. He's worked only for Lieberman and has provided little if any service to Democrats.

Posted by: JR
Date: March 7, 2007 3:33 PM

yes, and also worth noting this line from his bio:

"He collaborated with Lieberman on his renowned floor statement regarding the impeachment of President Clinton."

Why anyone would be proud of such a thing is truly mystifying...

Posted by: Greg
Date: March 7, 2007 3:39 PM

what's fascinating about the Politico response is the general left lean of the comments that are attached. the left leaners far out number the right leaners. are left leaners more likely commenters even on right leaning sites? do the right leaners only commnet when they have more accumulated vitriol (e.g. DrPaul)
Anyway, i found (almost all) the comments to be particular well thought out and expressed and it would be interesting if the Politico staff would comment on the comments.

Posted by: APD
Date: March 7, 2007 3:48 PM

How is funding politico?

Where did the money come from to hire reporters away from wapo and nyts. Who is bank rolling the salaries, web site, newspaper, radio and TV for politico?

I'm guessing it traces back to some big time gop funders.

Posted by: hadenough
Date: March 7, 2007 3:48 PM

Jim VandeHei said:
"It was wrong to assume our readers would know Gerstein is not only a Liebermaniac but a paid one at that!"
...

I have a problem with this. Even if all the readers knew Dan Gerstein was a lying sack o' s--t in service to Lieberman, as VandeHei claimed he originally thought, then that begs the question:

Why subsidize an attack on the liberal blogosphere?

If Politico is interested in accuracy, objectivity, and neutrality (which ultimately is what builds a news brand), then why hand over (precious) print real estate of your new magazine to a paid operative, and do so explicitly, since he assumed we all knew who Dan Gerstein was?

No, even taking VandeHei at his word, this represents poor judgment on his part, especially considering Politico is still starting up...

Posted by: cfaller96
Date: March 7, 2007 3:52 PM

Yes, I was astonished when I saw the names of the writers and editors for Politico.com. They are all very high-priced writers who were working for prestigious news organizations. So, at the time, I wondered which of the rightwing money-bags was paying for that new website.

I think the people at Politico.com should be asked to respond to the question: Who is paying their bills and salaries?

Posted by: poetry
Date: March 7, 2007 4:02 PM

My sense of the order is "Curly, Moe, then Larry."

Posted by: EH
Date: March 7, 2007 4:15 PM

I decided to ignore The Politico as soon as I heard that Mike Allen, a known GOP shill and Karl Rove butt-kiss, was a member of the staff. I'll take My TPM any day over that group of "journalists". Speaking of journalism, you guys should be invited by every talking-head to speak about the firings of the US attorneys because you totally broke that story. Everything I’m hearing now from the MSM is old hat because I already read it on TPM weeks ago. I had to chuckle the other day when I was watching Arlen Specter question the US attorneys after he, or one of his staff members, inserted the language into the patriot act that allowed them to be unceremoniously removed from their jobs. I guess I’ll just have to file that under, “How Ironic!”. Keep up the good work TPM!

Posted by: TruthSeeker
Date: March 7, 2007 4:40 PM

VandeHei, Harris and Smith belong, in my opinion, at the other end of the horse!

Posted by: jaf
Date: March 7, 2007 6:00 PM

"Second, and less important, it might have been worth mentioning that Lieberman was a client, as Gerstein's piece continued and amplified a running battle between him and his/Lieberman's enemies. I say this was minor, despite the criticism from Greg Sargent and several others, because we did disclose the central point -- that he is a Lieberman partisan."

So if you knew he was a paid Lieberman hack why did you provide him a platform to spew out his garbage in the first place? Surely you must have known ahead of time that it would be a hit piece on the Left and the Blogosphere. Was that what you wanted to do, launch yet another redundant attack on the dirty hippies who have fancy internets connections and hate America.

Just what the world needs, another right-wing propaganda outlet, posing as a serious news organization. Haven't we already got enough of those?

Posted by: Derek
Date: March 7, 2007 6:24 PM

Add me to those wondering how The Politico is funded. Ad revenue? Hedge funds? Inquiring minds want to know!

Posted by: shera
Date: March 7, 2007 9:17 PM

Credit where due. I'm surprised the Politicoi admitted fault, and by any broadly applicable standard I don't think they were at fault, but I will acknowledge the consensus.

Posted by: RonK, Seattle
Date: March 8, 2007 3:52 PM

P.S. Is there a reason Horse's Mouth isn't listed on the TPM sitemap? Is it accessible from the homepage?

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The Politico's Editors Respond Over Dan Gerstein Flap: We Committed A "Misdemeanor"
March 7, 2007 -- 2:35 PM EST // View Comments (40) // Post a Comment

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The Politico's Editors Respond Over Dan Gerstein Flap: We Committed A "Misdemeanor"March 7, 2007 -- 2:35 PM EST // View Comments (40) // Post a Comment

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The Politico's Editors Respond Over Dan Gerstein Flap: We Committed A "Misdemeanor"
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