Monday, November 30, 2015

Scum-bag! Caught in his own lies!-----Politico reporter downplays 'clumsy' Chelsea Clinton request

Politico reporter downplays 'clumsy' Chelsea Clinton request | Washington Examiner
Politico reporter Mike Allen on Monday downplayed his attempt to offer Chelsea Clinton a "relaxed" interview, and instead chalked it up to a "clumsy" email he wrote.
A 2013 email trail showed that Allen told Clinton aide Philippe Reines that if Chelsea Clinton agreed to an interview, the questions would be pre-screened. Allen said his offer amounted to a "no risk" interview opportunity for Clinton.
Allen didn't offer an explicit apology for the email, but did tell his readers "My bad!" in his Monday morning email.
He then implied that he never really offered cushy interview terms to Clinton, since his employer doesn't allow him to make that offer.
"You may have missed a Gawker post last week that rightly took me to task for something clumsy I wrote in an email to Philippe Reines in 2013, seeking an interview with Chelsea Clinton at a Politico brunch," he said, referring to the site that first published the emails.
"In the email, I said I'd agree to the questions in advance."
"I have never done that, and would never do that," he wrote.
"The email makes me cringe, because I should never have suggested we would," he added.
"We retain full, unambiguous editorial control over our events and questioning.
My bond with readers and newsmakers is built on knowing I don't pull punches."
Allen said Politico's policy is never to promise editorial control to an interview subject, and defended his past interviews as "spontaneous, conversational and news-driven."
The interview never took place.
But in the 2013 email conversation between Allen and Reines, Allen said, "I would work with you on topics [for the interview with Chelsea], and would start with anything she wants to cover or make news on.
Quicker than a network hit, and reaching an audience you care about with no risk."
It's not unusual for a journalist to discuss the terms of a potential interview in advance, but it is remarkable that an influential reporter would suggest that he was entirely relinquishing control of an interview to a powerful person, though Chelsea's mother Hillary had not yet announced her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination."

No comments: