Chuck Johnson gets it wrong
Chuck Johnson's Horse Sense column yesterday in the Lee papers included the accusation from MT Democrat Party Chairman Dennis McDonald that gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown had accepted $30,000 in contributions from "Big Oil".
Chuck Johnson is respected by many as one of the top political reporters in the state, but that's a reputation based more on longevity than on journalistic integrity.
First of all, he didn't ask the Roy Brown campaign for any sort of rebuttal to the accusations from the Democratic Party. He let Dennis McDonald give a free sucker punch to a blindfolded and bound Roy Brown.
Second - and this is a far graver sin for a journalist - he didn't even bother to verify the facts before going to print. A quick spot-check of Roy Brown's campaign finance report shows exactly no contributions from anyone working for a major oil company! Where's the Big Oil Chuck? Second, even if you include the contributions from individuals who work for small, Montana companies in the oil and gas industry, the numbers don't come anywhere close to the $30,000 suggested by Dennis McDonald. Our independent analysis going off of a hard copy of Roy Brown's report from the Commission of Political Practices office puts the number closer to about $15,000 for the oil and gas industry as a whole - and again, with no money from "Big Oil". This analysis of Roy Brown's campaign finance report took all of 20 minutes for us to complete.
Dennis McDonald could have claimed twice as much money and Chuck Johnson would have printed it as gospel truth.
Chuck Johnson is going to be the main reporter covering this year's gubernatorial election, and so far he seems fairly comfortable hanging out in Brian Schweitzer's corner. We'd prefer to see him as the unbiased referee that he should be.
Carter
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Reader Comments (3)
looks like the Hardwhiner got it wrong…again. it took you guys “all of 20 minutes" to complete your analysis because you failed to look at the whole picture. around $15k may be listed as directly from oil and gas folks (hardly a trivial amount in its own right), but you conveniently left out all the max donations from the “housewives” of oil execs; max donations from “students” who happen to be children of oil folks; money from oil lobbyists; and donations from people listed as “retired,” but who used to be directly involved in oil and gas.
rather than blame chuck johnson, maybe the hardwhiner should do some actual research next time before mouthing off.
Herodotus,
Actually, we did include contributions from spouses in our analysis. But your broad definition of what is included of "Big Oil" dilutes your argument. It's obvious that Dennis McDonald's intent with this attack was to paint Roy Brown as beholden to the interests of the big oil companies - that hardly works when to make your point you have to include housewives, students, and retirees. And by the way, there were no contributions from the wives of "oil execs," unless by "exec" you include all the independent operators who contributed to Roy who run their own small businesses.
The main point, which you have conveniently ignored, was that Chuck Johnson did a very shoddy piece of journalism by not checking his facts first - which judging by your post seems to be standard procedure on the left.
Herodotus - you must be really impressed with yourself to take on the name of the Father of History. Give me a break. Why do liberals have to be so smug and impressed with themselves when they fail to merit their self-regard by following the company line and failing to capitalize the first letters of sentences?
Back to the issue at hand: It is unconscionable for the media to accept the Dems' inconsistent attacks on Roy for taking money from "big oil" when their own candidate continues to trumpet energy development in Montana, take personal credit for the oil discoveries and development in Richland Co. and surrounding areas, and claim that he is about to pave a road of black gold to Montana's Golden Years.
It is also just plain wrong for two additional reasons:
1) As Carter stated, Roy did not take money from "big oil" - he accepted contributions from small, independent operators. How many ways must this be communicated before it penetrates your cognitive dissonance? and
2) BS talks the talk but does not walk the walk. He continues to put up road blocks to energy development (see the Kevin Furey story and examine his stacking of the most obstructionist Board of Environmental Review in Montana's history), he continues to offer a moving target of development promises that last long enough to mesmerize the masses but not the investors (see Otter Creek coal development, coal gasification plants, clean coal plants, promises of new oil pipelines and other transportation infrastructure by 2009, and hints that he would push for a new refinery to be built in Montana) and then moves on to another bobble-head interview on national television without delivering any results.
Are you getting the picture? A real journalist, who cared about truth and not just PR gloss, would look into these issues and examine what the man behind the curtain is doing. A dog and a bolo tie a good governor do not make. A notebook and a laptop a good reporter do not make.