Ending the Travesty

This is welcome news. The New York Times is, according to Frank Rich, no longer going to participate in the White House Correspondent's Association Dinner. Why?

[Rich called it] "a crystallization of the press's failures in the post-9/11 era." He writes that the event "illustrates how easily a propaganda-driven White House can enlist the Washington news media in its shows....

"After last weekend's correspondents' dinner, The Times decided to end its participation in such events," wrote Rich. "But even were the dinner to vanish altogether, it remains but a yearly televised snapshot of the overall syndrome. The current White House, weakened as it is, can still establish story lines as fake as 'Mission Accomplished' and get a free pass."

This is something that always bothered me; there's supposed to be a level of objectivity there in order for both the press and the politicians to get things done. This sort of chummy nonsense just reinforces the clubhouse atmosphere in Washington, which in turn accentuates the division between D.C. and the rest of the country.

It looks like others are getting bothered about it too. It looks like the Times is doing something about it.

Good.

Hat Tip: georgia10.