Subject: James D. Guckert — Reprinting Government Press Releases as His Own Work
You remember when Guckert (a k a Jeff Gannon) published White House press releases,
verbatim, as his own reporting? Well, he did not break the law prohibiting the “use of
appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda,” the Government Accounting Office ruled
Thursday.
Even if Guckert-Gannon, right, “repeatedly incorporated
substantial excerpts … into articles he published on the internet without disclosing that this
material was produced and distributed by the government,” the GAO ruled, he’s allowed to
because he’s a private citizen.
Congressional reps Louise Slaughter and John Conyers Jr. had asked the GAO to investigate.
The GAO General Counsel responded:
In your letter, you liken this activity to activities found in earlier GAO cases
regarding agencies authoring newspaper articles and op-ed pieces. However, the fact situations
giving rise to the earlier opinions differ significantly from the issue of Mr. Guckert reprinting press
releases. There the agencies did not issue press releases, but instead used appropriated funds to
write the editorials and news stories as the ostensible work or opinion of someone not connected
with the government.
Here’s the complete GAO response, with
explanation and footnotes. Here it is as a pdf file.
The government has a point. If it puts out press releases and other people claim authorship, is
the government at fault? You’d have to find evidence that the government sought to have
Guckert-Gannon pass off its announcements as his own independent writing. Sad to say, he’s not
the only “journalist” who simply repackaged press releases as news articles.
Still, it’s pretty neat. White House-credentialed fake reporter with fake name
from fake news agency promotes government policy by spreading White House propaganda
without attribution. Government is home free. Fake reporter is home free. Public is home fucked.
