The Politico's Reporting Problems

The Politico shouldn't stop apologizing yet.

On March 22, the nascent Beltway operation made news for all the wrong reasons when its online report erroneously announced that former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) was going to suspend his presidential campaign, if not drop out completely, because his wife had suffered a cancer relapse. The embarrassing gaffe made headlines, and The Politico quickly apologized for its sloppy work.

Based on recent offerings though, I don't think the much-hyped Beltway launch is finished handing out mea culpas -- The Politico ought to apologize to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for a series of dishonest and misleading hit pieces this month that were every bit as egregious as the Edwards whiff. The Richardson

piece suggested he was being hounded about questions regarding his "behavior with women," and The Politico announced that Obama had a "Jewish problem."

That's right, a Baby Boomer Democratic governor with a habit for chasing skirts and a prominent black Democrat with a strained relationship with Jewish voters. Both stereotypes are extremely damaging and both in this case were created -- concocted, really -- by The Politico (much like the Edwards story), since neither the Richardson nor Obama accusation could be substantiated by The Politico in any way that reflected the norms of mainstream journalism.

The reporting simply reinforced the notion that Politico plays loose with the facts when dealing with Democratic candidates. I can't find similar examples of The Politico manufacturing phony controversies about Republican candidates. And honestly, I don't want it to. I just want Politico to practice sound journalism.

On March 7, The Politico published a critique of the Beltway daily ("Is Politico a GOP Shill?") by Simon Maloy of Media Matters for America. Maloy noted that it was The Politico's editor, John Harris, who had coined the misleading phrase "slow bleed," to describe House Democrats' strategy for the war in Iraq; a loaded and damning phrase the GOP then quickly co-opted.

Maloy also noted that in general Politico has been generous in printing Republican talking points in its news articles and columns. (See Monday's piece regarding the U.S. attorney purge for a perfect example of how pure GOP spin passes for analysis at Politico.) Maloy's essay sparked an extended back-and-forth among The Politico's editors and writers. (Maloy's piece ran approximately 900 words; The Politico's rebuttal was nearly 2,400 words.) While acknowledging some missteps, Politico staffers seemed to take comfort in the fact that because Media Matters identifies itself as a progressive organization, its analysis and criticism can be dismissed as "partisan" attacks. The Politico proudly announced it was free of any bias. (Although Maloy never alleged that Politico suffered from "bias.")

So before Politico bosses wave off another assessment by someone at Media Matters, let's be clear -- this critique has nothing to do with bias or partisanship. This critique revolves around facts. In other words, The Politico does not have a bias problem. The Politico has a reporting problem.

On March 8, The Politico's Ben Smith wrote a provocative piece about Richardson, a Democratic presidential hopeful. "Richardson Defense on Character Raises Questions," read the headline (later shortened to "Richardson Defense Raises Questions"), which was The Politico's featured article that day online. The article's first sentence was quite ominous: "New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's 2008 presidential campaign has been burdened by unusually public discussion about his behavior with women."

Indeed, the article stressed that "many Democrats say gossip about Richardson's personal behavior is an important factor keeping an exceptionally well-credentialed politician … from entering the top tier of 2008 candidates." The article suggested the Richardson camp might have trouble "shutting down speculation" about his personal behavior.