By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
In case you missed it, Save Jerseyans, the media is snarking hard after Chris Christie helped NJ 101.5’s Eric Scott, host of the monthly ‘Ask the Governor’ radio show, land a free corvette.
This is the NON-STORY to end all non-stories, folks.
Background: it all started back in February when Scott joked that he’s underpaid by the station for hosting the Christie-centric program. Governor Christie, true to form, ribbed right back at Scott and lobbied, on air, for NJ 101.5 sponsor Lester Glenn Auto Group to send Scott a free car for his troubles.
Here’s how it all went down, and what happened next:
Where’s the scandal??? What am I missing here?
The Governor didn’t bribe Scott with a car. The show’s primary sponsor seized upon a funny segment of the program to garner some extra good PR (on top of their paid sponsorship) served up by the Garden State’s current top celebrity (Christie).
Detractors, undeterred, are saying it’s a huge ethical no-no.
Please. If Christie picked up the phone after the program and cajoled a friend to send a car to Eric Scott? Maybe you’d have a legitimate beef. But clearly not in this context.
And more absurd still is the nakedly hypocritical character of these media-driven allegations given how they’ve looked the other way on the subject of “ethics” and elected officials when Democrats are the beneficiaries.
Here is a definitive look at the incestuous relationship (literally) between this White House and the mainstream media establishment, courtesy of actor James Woods. Liberal bias in the press corps isn’t anything new, but the extent to which the Obama Administration and the Fourth Estate have merged is unprecedented in American history. Since Woods broke it down, we’ve learned just this week that Shailagh Murray (a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporter) is joining Team Obama as a senior adviser.
Gross…
So what we have here, in the case of Mr. Scott’s sweet new ride, is the ultimate example of a proverbial pot (the media) calling the kettle (Christie Inc.) black. Ridiculous. Don’t even go there with me…
In truth? We’re seeing inside baseball spill over into print. There’s a lot of jealousy at play here. The media is angry (and to an extent, to be fair, I think some of it is justified) over their lack of access to Chris Christie in recent months. Scott’s corvette, in their mind, is symbolic evidence of special treatment for the radio station.
THAT is the story here if there is one. Ethics per se has nothing to do with it. But if the media wants to get heavy with NJ 101.5, they should realize that they’re going to bat one-handed until they starting applying the same level of scrutiny to Republican AND Democrat pols alike. Hopping out of bed with Obama might be a nice start.
It may explain why 101.5 did a huge flip flop on the PARCC testing. They were very interested and sympathetic towards parents and educators, and then suddenly became hostile and even advocating for the opposite. Makes you wonder.
@Tracey There has always been media bias going back to the beginning of our Republic when Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers beat each other up, often relying on hyper-personal attacks. What’s different today is the almost hegemonic media bias favoring liberals; FOX, WSJ, and the new media are notable exceptions but exceptions all the same. There’s one mainstream outlet in the state that’s kinda/sorta pro-Christie (NJ 101.5) and they’re losing their shit over a car. I’m amused more than anything.
Reminds me of the old payola days in the radio music business.
I wonder if that’s how the “Chairman’s Flight” for David Samson began at United Airlines, with a “Playful Suggestion” from Gov.Christie so that David Samson could spend every weekend at his home in South Carolina…hmm?