Thursday, January 14, 2010
Phil Bronstein: Back-stabbing Hypocrite.
Oh, Phil, Phil, Phil. Today he writes a portrait of Jerry Brown, which includes this:
Earlier this year Brown himself called me to plant a possible story about Newsom selling a condo for a suspiciously high price in a distressed market. I thought, Come on, really? But while to some people a request like that might speak to pettiness and self-absorption, to me it shows he's still got that perfect paradoxical mix: He's a dreamer who knows how to reach for the sky with one hand but who isn't above keeping the other in the deepest political weeds.
To me, it shows that Jerry knows his audience: Phil Bronstein was looking for anything to tar Gavin. You plant a story where it will grow...
But Phil Bronstein, who advocated for source-journalist shield laws and privileges, who thinks his most significant achievement in the newsroom during the Bush administration (an era ripe for scandals) was the inconsequential Barry Bonds steroid story (but: journalists going to jail to protect sources), now burns a source. What a little man.
Now, if Brown involvement is newsworthy today, it should have been back in April. Alas, I cannot find an article that puts together Jerry, Gavin, and a condo sale. So it was not worth publishing at the time, but now is, all of sudden.
Why? Because principles don't matter when it's time to elect Republicans. So now that Gavin is out, Phil will use his pettiness and GOP loyalty to undermine Jerry.
[Update: we're no journalist, but still we asked for comment from Phil, who replied in less than 10 minutes to our question with a single sentence non-denial denial:
Have you asked Jerry whether the conversation was confidential?
Yeah, Phil, let me look in my rolodex and give Jerry a call right away... We asked the obvious follow-up question two minutes later: "was it confidential?" and we got no further reply.]
Earlier this year Brown himself called me to plant a possible story about Newsom selling a condo for a suspiciously high price in a distressed market. I thought, Come on, really? But while to some people a request like that might speak to pettiness and self-absorption, to me it shows he's still got that perfect paradoxical mix: He's a dreamer who knows how to reach for the sky with one hand but who isn't above keeping the other in the deepest political weeds.
To me, it shows that Jerry knows his audience: Phil Bronstein was looking for anything to tar Gavin. You plant a story where it will grow...
But Phil Bronstein, who advocated for source-journalist shield laws and privileges, who thinks his most significant achievement in the newsroom during the Bush administration (an era ripe for scandals) was the inconsequential Barry Bonds steroid story (but: journalists going to jail to protect sources), now burns a source. What a little man.
Now, if Brown involvement is newsworthy today, it should have been back in April. Alas, I cannot find an article that puts together Jerry, Gavin, and a condo sale. So it was not worth publishing at the time, but now is, all of sudden.
Why? Because principles don't matter when it's time to elect Republicans. So now that Gavin is out, Phil will use his pettiness and GOP loyalty to undermine Jerry.
[Update: we're no journalist, but still we asked for comment from Phil, who replied in less than 10 minutes to our question with a single sentence non-denial denial:
Have you asked Jerry whether the conversation was confidential?
Yeah, Phil, let me look in my rolodex and give Jerry a call right away... We asked the obvious follow-up question two minutes later: "was it confidential?" and we got no further reply.]
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