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Did you see what she wore today? That girl needs a stylist. And fast.
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Following up on our scoops on Josie Hearn’s questionable reporting tactics, the WaPo’s media king weighs in on a little snafu committed at the pub last week:
One Toke Over the Line?
Ryan Grim, a reporter for the Politico, the new Capitol Hill newspaper and Web site, called the White House drug policy office for comment last week.Tom Riley, a spokesman for the office, recognized the name. Grim, he says, had called the office long ago, saying he was a reporter, but was using an e-mail address from the Marijuana Policy Project, where he worked. The group’s goal is to legalize the drug.
Riley did not return Grim’s call. Instead, as the Politico disclosed, Riley called Martin Tolchin, the paper’s senior publisher, to point out that the reporter was hardly unbiased.
“He then threatened to complain to Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz about a conflict of interest,” the Politico said.
That was not necessary (although such calls are always welcome here on the media beat). I contacted Riley the day the story appeared.
“The idea of someone who had been an activist on this now being a staff writer purporting to write about it objectively . . . is ludicrous,” Riley says.
“It’d be like a lobbyist for Philip Morris going to write about smoking issues for The Post.”
Politico Executive Editor John Harris says that Grim, who was hired from Washington’s City Paper, has a “reliable record” as a reporter. “There are lot of people at publications who have gone from advocacy jobs in a previous career to non-advocacy roles,” Harris says. “The story was motivated by journalistic interest, not his particular views on the subject.”
Grim’s story said President Bush is seeking a 31 percent funding hike for an anti-drug advertising campaign “that government-funded research shows is at best useless and at worst has increased drug use among some teens.” Riley calls the piece “totally slanted,” saying it fails to note that marijuana use among teenagers has declined over the last five years.
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkWe spent a good amount of time on Friday detailing how Josie Hearn failed to credit members of the Hispanic press for at least one story she’s taken credit for breaking while at the Politico. Apparently, those crazy kids at FOX News weren’t paying any attention.
Over the weekend, the channel triuphantly reported that Alvaro Cifuentes, chairman of the DNC’s Hispanic Caucus, abruptly resigned amid allegations he used a racial slur during a heated argument with a black aide to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. (Cifuentes allegedly called the aide “boy.”
But sources tell BHDC that it was actually a tip to FOX News from a Washington correspondant who writes for El Nuevo Día that led the channel to the story. Not a lick of credit was given, however, and, in at least one instance, FOX has been given the credit for breaking the story .
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalink“The Politico is becoming ridiculous”
“The Politico: Harnessing the Interwebs in the Manner of Junior High School Nimrods”
“Josefina: Cállate La Blackberry!!!”
Related: Exclusive: Capitol Standard Editor Says Politico’s Josie Hearn is Passing Others’ Work Off As Her Own; Exclusive: More News from Josie; Beautiful Handiwork of Politico’s Josie Hearn: “I Broke the News”
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkShe’s got her Blackberry, kids, and she’s not afraid to use it. Apparently, our coverage has riled her up a bit because she still thinks she broke a story that a couple of Washington Hispanic papers had already broken.
“Hmmm, not much professional responsibility here it seems,” she wrote to BHDC via e-mail after The Capitol Standard editors spoke out. ”How are u (sic) able to post after you’ve read those two nov (sic) stories in their entirety with their dates? Or bearing in mind the resignation aspect of the more current story.”
I have done the research and the Politico’s reporter math just isn’t adding up. But she does seem to own her share of hubris, adding this zinger: “I hadn’t heard of you until today, but seems you are living up to your rep.”
If you hadn’t heard of BHDC, then how could we have a reputation for you to know about, Josie?
If you want to enlighten us, you know how to get in touch. But please stop being so vague. If you think someone is lying, why won’t you just say it?
Related: Exclusive: Capitol Standard Editor Says Politico’s Josie Hearn is Passing Others’ Work Off As Her Own; Exclusive: More News from Josie; Beautiful Handiwork of Politico’s Josie Hearn: “I Broke the News”
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkPatricia Guadalupe, executive editor of the Capitol Standard, has now responded to Big Head DC’s request for comment on Josie’s Hearn’s omission allegation, and she says she is shocked by Hearn’s assertion.
“I’d like to know what the hell she says was omitted,” Guadalupe tells BHDC. “Who the hell knows why she is saying I omitted anything. I’d love to see what the hell it is because it wasn’t anything I sent. I sent you everything on it.”
Guadalupe believes this situation boils down condescending attitudes coming out of the Politico. “That things that we in the Hispanic press have been covering ad nauseum for so long are suddenly ‘discovered’ by the so-called mainstream press and we have to ‘credit’ and bow to them, oh, and here are some stories I’ve worked on to help with with the coverage that you’ve been doing all these years? Please!” she exclaims.
Furthermore, Guadalupe says that Hearn has falsely accused the newspaper La Opinión — the largest Spanish-language daily in the nation with a Washington correspondent who’s been at it since 1993 — of regularly not crediting her for reporting on the Loretta Sanchez story, even while La Opinión and others in the Spanish-language press “do these stories all the time.”
“Maybe the bigger issue here is the enormous lack of diversity in these places,” says Guadalupe. “If Politico and others had more Spanish-speaking reporters who already have a radar on this issues, they wouldn’t all of a sudden ‘discover’ the issue and credit would go where credit is due.”
Fresia Rodriguez Cadavid, founder and publisher of The Capitol Standard, believes that Hearn’s behavior toward Guadalupe has been “unprofessional.”
“Politico did not break this story and Patricia was merely pointing that out politely and with tact,” says Rodriguez Cadavid. “Josie’s claims are baseless.” She adds, too, that the Standard was created as a venue to inform others on news related to Capitol Hill and Hispanics that mainstream media ignore.
“We are all suppose to be professionals and in this business honesty is of the utmost importance,” says Rodriguez Cadavid. “It’s a disgrace to our profession and to one’s integrity to attempt to pass someone’s work off as your own.”
Hearn has told BHDC that she cannot provide details on the alleged omissions because she doesn’t have them on her Blackberry. “I’m leaving for a business trip,” she reports. She promises to provide details after she returns.
Related: Beautiful Handiwork of Politico’s Josie Hearn: “I Broke the News”; Exclusive: More News from Josie
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reddit | facebook | del.icio.us | stumble | permalinkJosie Hearn tells Big Head DC that The Capitol Standard’s Patricia Guadalupe “omitted” some information in her e-mail to Wonkette. Patricia has not yet responded to requests for comment.
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As you may have noticed, Big Head DC sometimes comes down hard on Wonkette, and for that we’re sorry. We only hold Alex Pareene and Ken Layne to the same standards that we hold ourselves (must drink 1 bottle of Pinot in morning followed by Jell-O shots all afternoon).
But we’d be remiss if we failed to point out their lovely post last night on Josie Hearn, one of Politico’s star reporters. That blond-haired beauty (she was nominated as a hottest journo by FishbowlDC, after all) seems to have e-mailed a bunch of her non-all-star colleagues (who would dare to write for other publications), asking them to give her credit for a story that someone else had already broken:
Subject: Loretta Sanchez story
From: “Josephine Hearn”
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 16:24:40 -0500
To: [Redacted]Hi all,
If you are working on a story about Loretta Sanchez and the CHC, please credit Politico.com for breaking the story.
Below I am including stories I have written over the past year on the CHC rift. They may be of use to you.
Thanks,
Josephine HearnUnfortunately, one of the recipients had already kinda broken the story too. Full, cranky e-mail exchange…
Subject: Re: Loretta Sanchez story
From: “Patricia Guadalupe”
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:07:00 EST
To: “Josephine Hearn”Hi Josephine,
Here are some stories that I have written about it, going back to November for The Capitol Standard (www.thecapitolstandard.com, which comes out every Monday) and Hispanic Business Magazine (daily on the web and monthly on newstands). There have been other stories about this in the Spanish-language press dating back to last fall.Thanks,
Patricia Guadalupe[Attached: piece featuring this graf:
Sources familiar with the closed-door meeting said the female legislators consider Baca “disrespectful” of women’s issues, adding that he once said one of the Latina legislators was also a member of the world’s oldest profession.from the November 30 Capitol Standard.]
Subject: RE: Loretta Sanchez story
From: “Josephine Hearn”
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:35:28 -0500
To: “Patricia Guadalupe”
RE: Loretta Sanchez storyHi Patricia,
I’m not saying I’m the only one writing on this topic. I’m just saying I’m the first to write on it and that in these three instances I broke the news. Nothing you’ve sent here seems to suggest otherwise. The LA Times and other papers have credited me on some of these and I appreciate it. But some outlets, especially La Opinion and AP, sometimes follow the story without credit. That may be their practice. I’m just putting my contributions out there.
Thanks,
JosieSubject: Re: Loretta Sanchez story
From: “Patricia Guadalupe”
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:45:33 EST
To: “Josephine Hearn”, [Redacted]
CC: [Bruce Drake, Jim VandeHei, John Harris]Hi Josephine,
The previous stories that we have done were done with our own sourcing and our own reporting, as you can see by the quotes in just the two stories I sent you, so I beg to differ that you were the first source to break this in previous ocassions.
You may want to recheck whomever is telling you La Opinión and others are not crediting you for yesterday, because it is credited and that here is highlighted for your convenience.
Patricia
Subject: RE: Loretta Sanchez story
From: “Josephine Hearn”
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 18:30:08 -0500
To: “Patricia Guadalupe”You’re misunderstanding my point and then ccing my editors. This is becoming ridiculous. Have a good day.
Subject: Re: Loretta Sanchez story
From: “Patricia Guadalupe”
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 18:32:55 EST
To: “Josephine Hearn”
CC: [Bruce Drake, Jim VandeHei, John Harris]It was ridiculous for you to start this in the first place. I am cc’ing your editors because you cannot make baseless accusations that question my work or the work of my colleagues in the Hispanic press who have been working on these stories since time immemorial before the mainstream “discovered.”
Have a great evening
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