From paid opinion pieces for major newspaper editorial pages to payoffs to a Congressional aide spouse, the wide net around the activities of lobbyist Jack Abramoff has touched the nation's major media corporations. Writing in the Miami Herald, Edward Wasserman uses the Abramoff affair to criticize the editorial page custom of "don't ask about op-ed/column provenance" — a practice Wasserman calls an "ethical brothel."And in an "unprecedented" move, in 2000 the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA) allocated $10 million to an Abramoff-run public affairs campaign designed to forestall a scheduled postal rate increase.
MPA hired Preston Gates Ellis Rouvelas & Meeds LLP — a Seattle-based law firm (Gates is the father of the Microsoft founder) — and Abramoff worked the account for Preston Gates for at least one year. MPA was the firm's sixth largest client.
According to MPA, Preston Gates directed the association to make a $25,000 contribution to Toward Tradition, an Orthodox Jewish foundation also based in Seattle. The plea agreement shows that Abramoff paid $500,000 over a 10-month period, through a non-profit, to the wife of "Staffer A," widely believed to be former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy; Rudy worked with Abramoff after leaving DeLay's employment. "The total amount paid to the wife of Staffer A was obtained from clients that would and did benefit from Staffer A’s official actions regarding the legislation on internet gambling or opposing postal rate increases," according to the plea agreement.
MPA represents major media giants such as Conde Nast (Vanity Fair), Hearst Magazines (Harper's Bazaar), McGraw Hill (Business Week), Meredith Corp (Better Homes & Gardens), The Reader’s Digest Association andTime Warner
Propaganda as Untainted Opinion
In December, Business Week Online reported that Bando and Peter Ferrara had written for Abramoff without informing their readership; Bando resigned but Ferrara is unrepentant. Accuracy in Media compares Abramoff's actions with that of George Seros, but fails to note that Seros is spending his own money, not client funds.
Article comments