Journalists with pride would be flabbergasted, even outraged, watching the video of reporters who cover John McCain's campaign yukking it up and partying at his sumptuous Arizona hideaway among the picturesque red rock bluffs of remote Sedona.
It's an astonishing tape— Link —made by McCain's oldest child, Meghan, who joined in the rollicking festivities and acts as star-struck narrator.
One shot is of McCain cradling a blonde female in his arms. Another is of a female in a tire swing with a flute of champagne mugging for the camera. Dozens of journalists gathered in the sun on the house's veranda, libation in hand, smiling for the camera.
What makes this tape so startling is that the reporters are so unabashed about their alcohol-laced hobnobbing with the presidential candidate they supposedly cover with dispassion, disinterest, objectivity and honesty. There they are, drinking McCain's booze, eating his barbecue, engaging in a romp as his guests and thereafter returning to the campaign trail expecting readers and TV viewers to believe they're giving honest, arms-length reports on McCain, the man with whom they just partied.
Commentators have denounced the coziness of Washington and political media with McCain, concluding he indeed gets a break: The supposedly tough "liberal" media is a sucker for McCain's accessibility (like drinking and eating at his ranch) and his self-deprecating candor. So, watchdogs become lapdogs with a little backslapping conviviality, booze and barbecue.
McCain has mastered stroking of media with his catchy "Straight Talk" gimmick. As author Neal Gabler wrote in The New York Times, "The mainstream news media by and large don't cover Mr. McCain; they canonize him. He is their pal."
Most of these reporters undoubtedly have written about conflicts of interest involving public figures. What does this revelry at McCain's retreat constitute if not culpable conflict? They should be removed from reporting on McCain to prevent further public doubt about the press.
Although not exactly comparable, how would it appear if the prosecuting attorney went partying with the defendant in a criminal trial?
Highly ethical professionals are still on the job. Increasingly, however, reportorial ranks are being stripped of the most experienced by staff buyouts to reduce costs of shareholder-owned media. They're being replaced by younger, less-costly and less-experienced reporters who're new to ethics and professional discipline and work in environments of laxer standards. They've bred some of the media's worst cases of plagiarism, fabrication and duplicity.
Festive reporters at McCain's barbecue risked not only their personal reputations, but also journalism's most important asset—its integrity.
