Barack Obama

Associated Press Ignores Obama On Drawing False Equivalences On Health Care

Brian Beutler | April 4, 2012, 12:23PM

President Barack Obama

One of the key moments of President Obama's Tuesday speech before an Associated Press luncheon came at the end, when he urged reporters not to cast partisan disagreements about the key issues of the day -- health care, the environment, the role of the federal government -- as a product of equal intransigence on both sides. Republicans, he noted, have abandoned their previous support for Obama initiatives -- from transportation funding, to cap and trade, to the health care reforms that comprise 'Obamacare' -- many of which emerged as conservative alternatives to more liberal policies.

His hosts weren't listening -- and as a result they've made Obama's points about Republicans and the media for him.

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Health Care

A Very Hawaiian Health Care Bill?

Christina Bellantoni | December 4, 2009, 5:56PM

President Barack Obama

The White House has long been saying President Obama wants a health care bill on his desk this year.

That's the messaging used by the DNC's Organizing for America, pro-health reform groups and, as Brian reported this week, the Democratic leadership is prepared to work "right through Christmas."

A reporter today asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the lag as the Senate debates its version of the bill.

"Given that it took four days to vote on the first two amendments in the health care bill do you think realistically you're looking at a date closer to the state of the union for a bill?" the reporter asked in the morning gaggle.

"I'm not going to wiggle on a date," Gibbs said.

TPMDC followed up asking Gibbs about the First Family's annual Hawaiian vacation. The dates aren't public yet, but Obama will be in the Aloha state for a good chunk of time in late December.

"If the bill is passed the president would be happy to sign it in Hawaii - I could think of any number of picturesque locations," Gibbs said.

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Going Rogue

Internal AP Memo Thanks Writers For Successful 'Literary Treasure Hunt' In Finding Sarah Palin's Book

Christina Bellantoni | November 19, 2009, 5:59PM

Before Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," was released to the public, the Associated Press published a much-heralded fact check that detailed where her claims didn't line up with reality. It was possible in part because the AP snagged a copy of Palin's book early.

There's a lot to how the AP found the books - and beat their competitors - detailed in a weekly internal newsletter to the company's 4,000 employees and obtained by Talking Points Memo.

Mike Oreskes, a senior managing editor, offers staffers a description of the AP's own work tracking down and fact checking the book and it reads like a spy thriller:

"The AP was determined to get the first copy," Oreskes wrote, detailing how the writers learned a store had "inadvertently placed the book on sale five days before its official Nov. 17 release date."

"They bought a copy, ripped it from its spine and scanned it into the system so it could be read and electronically searched," he wrote. "A NewsNow moved within 40 minutes, followed quickly by multiple leads as details were gleaned from the 413-page manuscript."

Paul Colford, director of media relations for the AP, said the latest edition of "Beat of the Week" newsletter lauding the reporters who tracked down "Going Rogue" showcased the wire service was "dogged enough" to find the book and "be able to echo what was in it before it was in wider circulation."

"There's no greater fox hunt in newsgathering around the publication of a big book than the rush to be the first to get it and say what it says," Colford told TPMDC.

In the newsletter, the AP congratulates the two reporters who found the book for their work, and jabs a bit at the competition. The reporters will share a $500 cash prize awarded to the best beats at the AP each week.

Read the "Going Rogue" portion of the weekly newsletter - which also lauds other reporters' unrelated works - after the jump.

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