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As soon as word got out that Sen. Barack Obama would chose Sen. Joseph Biden as his running mate, a "news analysis" written by AP acting DC bureau chief Ron Fournier declared that the choice reflected Obama's insecurity about his own electability. Fournier's article echoed a point made in Sen. John McCain's attack ads: that Biden himself had said that Obama lacked experience, especially on foreign policy matters. Denouncing what they see as a pattern of partisan attacks masquerating as journalism, some bloggers are now demanding that AP take Fournier off the election beat.
Fournier has been covering politics and elections for 20 years, beginning as a statehouse reporter in Arkansas when Bill Clinton was Governor. He was a conventional news reporter until a few years ago. However, in a January 2007 internal AP newsletter article posted to the Poynter.org forum, Fournier talked about the need for journalists to hold public figures accountable for the promises they make. Fournier's brief for accountability journalism is a stirring call to arms that reads, in part:
Katrina made a believer out of me. I had always known that The
Associated Press played a role in holding public officials accountable,
but it took a killer hurricane and an incompetent, arrogant government
response to make me realize this is no mere role. It's an obligation, a
liberating one at that....
In his role as DC bureau chief, Fournier is encouraging reporters to report their convictions without worrying about striking a neutral tone or giving equal weight to all sides of a story. As Michael Calderone noted in Politico.com last June, it's an approach that worries traditional journalists, including Sandy Johnson, his predecessor as DC bureau chief. But it excites others, (h/t Jane Hamsher)
But critics say Fournier has not been accountable in his own coverage. They cite reports that Fournier exchanged chummy e-mails with former Pres. Bush's chief of staff Karl Rove in 2004, accusing Fournier of advising the administration on how to manage the storiy of the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman. Fournier reportedly responded that he was just maintaining a relationship with a source and expressed regret that his tone was overly "breezy." Sourcewatch has the details of the incident with links. Sourcewatch also reports that Fournier considered taking a job with the McCain campaign.
Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake wants readers to complain to AP:
In March, Fournier wrote that Obama is "a bit too cocky," and that he and Michelle "ooze a sense of entitlement...."
It's simply not acceptable that the head of the AP's Washington
bureau, in charge of presidential campaign coverage, sees the AP as
little more than an extension of the McCain Campaign's message...
Lindsay Beyerstein mocked Fournier's analysis in her post, Ron Fournier: If Barack Obama were confident, he would have picked a ficus tree. She also took aim at Fournier's relationship with All American Speakers' Bureau, which lists him on its roster at $5,000 -10,000 a pop. Beyerstein wonders how Fournier squares his speaking engagements with the AP's policy requiring that employees get approval for appearances and refuse honoraria for speeches before government agencies, businesses, special interest groups or others whom they might have to cover.
Back in February, I wrote about the controversy resulting from some news organizations' requirement that its reporters not vote in primary caucuses that would require them to take a public position on a candidate. At the time, I said that the goal in journalism is to use objective reporting methods to help compensate for the natural biases that we all bring to the task.
I can understand Fournier's desire to shake up sometimes-stale, formulaic reporting. I'll even agree with him that the pretense of journalistic neutrality can get in the way of telling the truth. The US government's laggard, incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example. But those instances are rare, and should be treated with discipline.
Critics are right to say that Fournier's news analysis piece on Obama ventured into opinion. Fournier didn't supply any sources for his statement that Obama's choice of Biden reflected insecurity. He simply asserted that it did. News analysis tries to ascertain the meaning behind a news event, but that meaning emerges from reporting, not from assertion. Fournier's piece has plenty of reporting -- polls, quotes from experts and the like. But the specific statement that Obama lacks self-confidence is not supported. At the very least, says Steve Benen, it's lazy analysis.
Ron Fournier needs to live up to
