WHO PAYS BOB WOODWARD TO SPEAK?

[paineinthearse]

Source: http://prorev.com/indexa.htm

THE ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS scandal only cracks the surface of the extra-curricular funding of journalists and their ilk. The most common source of this funding is from large corporations with huge political agendas. Their money goes to the journalists through two primary conduits: sponsorship of television shows and speaking fees.

The former funnel is typified by the purportedly sacred Jim Lehrer Hour being supported by Archer Daniels Midland which has been constantly in trouble with the law. Edward Shanahan of Downstreet sums up the problem well:

"'The Informant,' written by New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald, is not a novel, but a true-crime thriller about the long-running international price-fixing scheme orchestrated by the Archer Daniels Midland Co., which resulted in the theft of millions and millions of dollars from consumers around the world. . . In its advertising spots, ADM prefers to be linked to news programs, particularly the much admired News Hour with Jim Lehrer, viewed nightly by the so-called egg-head audience, which is made up of many of the nation's policy makers. . .

"The Informant" draws a detailed picture of a rogue corporation whose expressed position was that "our competitors are our friends, our customers are our enemies." The book traces in painstaking but precise detail the government investigation of ADM's price-fixing activities that began in 1992 and resulted in the company pleading guilty and paying a fine of $100 million. In addition in 1999, three of ADM's top executives, including Mark Whitaker, the psychotic informant who brought the company and himself down, were sentenced to prison for their role in the worldwide price-fixing scheme.

"And yet the myth continues to be broadcast to millions of listeners and viewers each day that ADM is a friend to the world's people, and as evidence of its goodness it enables us to listen to the important news of the day by its generous 'underwriting' or corporate sponsorship.

"The other major source of dubious journalist funding is the speaker's fee. This only rarely causes a public stir even though those with the ability to pay the fees demanded by top media figures are almost entirely of the conservative political persuasion and engaged in large-scale lobbying of politicians when they're not softening up media stars.

One case was described in 1999 by Mark Schapiro in Salon. Outlying a planned "junk science" sting by ABC's John Stosell against Dr. Grace Ziem, who was treating medical ailments resulting from exposure to environmental toxins, Schapiro wrote:

"One of Ziem's patients had read a report in the newsletter about an appearance Stossel made in early September before the Federalist Society, a group of conservative lawyers," and had made a pitch for corporate sponsors: "'I certainly would encourage any of you who knows somebody who buys advertising on television to say 'please buy a couple of ads on those Stossel specials.'"

"'A pitch for sponsors is generally not what an investigative reporter does,' observes Jeff Cohen, director of FAIR. . . The Stossel case reveals how reporters seemingly in search of 'the truth' all too often are compromised by financial and personal connections with the very people and organizations they are covering. . .

"And Stossel is not alone. Many of the most famous members of the D.C. press corps -- the true power elite of American journalism -- accept high-paying corporate speaking engagements and have direct personal ties to the political candidates. The top echelon of Washington political reporters — Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, George Will, Andrea Mitchell and many others whose heads appear daily on the screen — receive from $10-$30,000 (in Cokie's case) per appearance from industry groups like the National Association of Realtors, the American Hospital Association, the Public Relations Society of America and the Mortgage Bankers Association. The sensitivity of this issue was demonstrated last November, when ABC's Cokie Roberts, informed that her paid appearance in front of the Public Relations Society of America might include audience questions about her speaking fee, withdrew at the last minute."

"Over the last 18 months, all three networks, in an effort to combat what ABC News Vice President Richard Wald termed 'the appearance of conflict of interest,' have imposed guidelines that prohibit their correspondents from taking speaking fees from profit-making enterprises or groups representing those they may report on. "

The problem comes with questions like: should someone reporting on Social Security take a speakers' fee from any large corporation and, in particularly, those with Wall Street ties?

The media would rather keep it simple with stories like those of Armstrong Williams. Still it would be helpful if Bob Woodward provided a list of all who have paid him the $20-$25,000 a speech he charges and an explanation of how he chooses which talks he will give or avoid. After all, a man who is so avowedly honorable that he doesn't even vote should have something to share with us about all this.

SALON ARTICLE - http://www.salon.com/media/media961022.html
DOWNSTREET ARTICLE - http://www.downstreet.net/archives/publicradio.html

The list
SAMPLE SPEAKING FEES - - http://www.speaking.com/

ERIC ALTERMAN - Not disclosed
TOM BROKAW - Not disclosed
CONNIE CHUNG - Not disclosed
ELEANOR CLIFT - $5-10,000
ANN COULTER - $25-30,000
BRIT HUME - $30-50,000
MARA LIASSON - $10-$15,000
ANDREA MITCHEL - $20-25,0000
LISA MYERS - $10-15,000
DAN RATHER - $30-50,000
DIANE SAWYER - $30-50,000
FOREST SAWYER - $25-30,000
JOHN STOSSELL - $30-50,000
BOB WOODWARD - $20-25,000