Did You Know...

Via JWF, the lapdog media admits that its cadre of real reporters allow the Obama press staff to vet and rewrite their, um, work.

Jim Messina’s profanity gets whitewashed out. David Axelrod’s blowhardiness gets tightened up. And quotes fed by anonymous officials are now published at unprecedented “new levels.”

The Fishwrap of Record meekly acknowledges that, yeah, maybe that’s not a good idea:

The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative.

They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under one major condition: the press office has veto power over what statements can be quoted and attributed by name.

Most reporters, desperate to pick the brains of the president’s top strategists, grudgingly agree. After the interviews, they review their notes, check their tape recorders and send in the juiciest sound bites for review.

The verdict from the campaign — an operation that prides itself on staying consistently on script — is often no, Barack Obama does not approve this message.

…“We don’t like the practice,” said Dean Baquet, managing editor for news at The New York Times. “We encourage our reporters to push back. Unfortunately this practice is becoming increasingly common, and maybe we have to push back harder.”

They should. But they won’t. They’ll tuck their tails between their legs, do and say what they’re told, and compete for the coveted Obamedia Drool Bucket Award.

But what do I know? I’m…just a blogger.

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Related from Big Journalism: NY TIMES DOWNPLAYS FORMER OBAMA FUNDRAISER PENNY PRITZKER’S PROBLEMS.

Good NYT lapdogs. Good lapdoggies.