The government-media cabal

By Joseph Farah

What do the following “news organizations” have in common?

Al-Ahram, Beijing Daily, China Press, China Youth Daily, China Times, Sing Tao Daily, the Vietnam News Agency and the Xinhua News Agency.

If you guessed that they are all – to one extent or another – representatives of the government-controlled press, you would be right. You win the prize.

But, they all have something else in common, too – something you may not have guessed.

They are all fully accredited members of the Washington press corps, with full access to congressional hearings, offices, press conferences, deliberations and special sessions.

Meanwhile, I need to point out, WorldNetDaily has been denied credentials by the august body known as the Standing Committee of Correspondents that granted those official news organs accreditation.

That’s right. DENIED. Why?

Well, I will list for you the various excuses we have been getting for a full year now:

  1. WorldNetDaily is a non-profit.

    Well, no it is not – as we have been telling Joe Keenan, deputy director of the Senate Press Gallery, since day one. The confusion about this stems from the fact that WorldNetDaily was launched under the auspices of a non-profit, the Western Journalism Center, in 1997. By 1999, it had been spun off as a for-profit operation and has been ever since. In fact, WorldNetDaily may be the only Internet news company actually paying its own bills with its own revenues.

  2. WorldNetDaily is partly owned by a non-profit.

    Yes, there is some truth to this statement. Because of the nature of the spinoff, Western Journalism Center retains a significant amount of stock in the for-profit, though it is a minority percentage, and even that is continually diminishing as more stock is sold and as the company repurchases those shares. But, I’ll tell you why this is merely an excuse for the committee.

    There are no written rules prohibiting either non-profit news agencies from accreditation nor companies partly owned by non-profits. In fact, there are many of them currently among the roster of news agencies accredited in the Capitol – the Christian Science Monitor, the Associated Press, Religion News Service and the Washington Times, which, like the Christian Science Monitor, is owned 100 percent by a church, even though the newspaper may be set up as a for-profit operation.

  3. WorldNetDaily doesn’t have enough original content.

    Again, there is nothing in the rules about this, which shows the committee is winging it – making them up as it goes along. But, I’ll leave that to you, dear readers, to decide whether WorldNetDaily has enough original content. Some 2.5 million different readers a month seem to think we have something to offer. We have thousands – that’s right – thousands of original WND news stories and columns permanently archived on our website.

    We have been responsible for breaking countless important national news stories over the past almost five years. Our material is frequently cited, with attribution, by many of those news organizations accredited by the Senate Press Gallery, such as the Associated Press and the Washington Post. But the czars of the Washington Beltway journalistic establishment apparently do not think these journalistic credentials are sufficiently worthy.

  4. WorldNetDaily runs ads for books and other products mixed in with the news.

    No, I’m not kidding, people. This was the last line of explanation from Keenan when all the other excuses were shot down. Yes, I know, newspapers have been mixing ads with news for more than 200 years in America. I didn’t come up with this, the government-media cabal did. Of course, it is the very fact that we sell products and advertising that enables us to be a legitimate for-profit daily news organization, though, again, not that it should matter under the committee’s stated rules.

What does all this mean? In one sense, not much – WorldNetDaily will continue to expose the rampant fraud, waste, abuse and corruption in Washington, just as we have for nearly five years. We’ll do it in spite of the obstacles. We can still get access to the Capitol with daily press credentials when we need them, says Keenan.

On the other hand, we’d rather have the same, unfettered access to our tax-supported government institutions as that which the standing committee has seen fit to give to the official Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. We think WorldNetDaily should have at least as much access to Congress as Beijing’s communist propaganda organ, Xinhua News Agency.

We’ve published the complete list of more than 300 daily “news organizations” below. You judge for yourself.

If you think the standing committee is making a mistake by omitting WorldNetDaily, maybe you should drop Joe Keenan an e-mail.

Read “WND denied congressional pass.”

List of accredited daily news organizations:

ABIM News Agency

ANG Newspapers

ANSA Italian News Agency

Aftenposten

Air Daily

Akahata

Al-Ahram

Al-Madinah Newspaper

Albuquerque Journal

AllAfrica.com

Allentown Morning Call

American Banker

American Metal Market

Anchorage Daily News

Arab News

Arizona Republic

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Artists & Writers Syndicate

Asahi Shimbun

Asian Wall Street Journal

Associated Press

Associated Press of Pakistan

Australian

Australian Financial Review

Baltimore Sun

Bangor Daily News

Baton Rouge Advocate

Beijing Daily

BioWorld Today

Bloomberg News

Bond Buyer

Boston Globe

Boston Herald

Boston University News Service

Bovard News Service

Buenos Aires Economico

Buffalo News

Business Day

CBS MarketWatch

CQ Daily Monitor

Cablefax Daily

Canadian Press

Casper Star-Tribune

Catholic News Service

Central News Agency

Charleston (WVA) Daily Mail

Charleston Post-Courier

Chattanooga Times/Free Press

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Tribune

China Economic Daily

China Press

China Times

China Youth Daily

Christian Science Monitor

Chronicle of Higher Education

Clarin

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Colorado Springs Gazette

Columbus Dispatch

Communications Daily

Congressional Information Bureau

Congressional Quarterly

Connecticut Post

Copley News Service

Corriere Della Sera

Cox Newspapers

Dagens Nyheter

Daily Deal

Daily Oklahoman

Dallas Morning News

Dayton Daily News

Deep Dixie News Service

Defense Daily

Denver Post

Der Bund

Des Moines Register

Deseret News

Detroit Free Press

Detroit News

Die Presse

Die Welt

Dong-a Ilbo

Donrey Media Group

Dow Jones Corporate Filings Alert

Dow Jones Newswires

EFE News Services

East Valley Tribune

Easton Express-Times

Edinburgh Business AM

Education Daily

El Espectador

El Financiero

El Norte & Reforma

El Nuevo Dia

El Pais

El Tiempo

El Universal

El Vocero de Puerto Rico

Eleftheros Typos

Energy Argus

Energy Daily

Environment News Service

Fairbanks Daily News Miner

Fairchild News Service

Financial Times

Financial Times Deutschland

Financial Times Energy

Florida Times-Union

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Frankfurter Rundschau

Fredericksburg Freelance-Star

Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette

Gannett News Service

Gas Daily

Gazeta Wyborcza

German Press Agency – DPA

Gestion

Global Horizons Syndicate

Griffin-Larrabee News Service

Guangming Daily

Han-Kyoreh Shinmun

Handelsblatt

Hankook Ilbo & Korea Times

Hartford Courant

Hearst Newspapers

Hindu

Hindustan Times

Hokkaido Shimbun

Hollywood Reporter

Hong Kong iMail

Houston Chronicle

Huntsville Times

Hurriyet

Il Giornale

Il Sole 24 Ore

Il Tempo

Inter Press Service

International Herald Tribune

Investor’s Business Daily

Irish Times

Itar-Tass News Agency

Jerusalem Post

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Jiji Press

Joong Ang Ilbo

Jyllands-Posten

Kipling News Service

Knight Ridder

Korea Economic Daily

Kuwait News Agency

Kyodo News

Kyung Hyang Shinmun

L’Orient – Le Jour

L’Unita

LRP Publications

La Jornada

La Nacion

La Nazione

La Opinion

La Razon

La Tribuna

La Van Guardia

Lahontan Valley News

Las Vegas Sun

Le Figaro

Le Mauricien

Le Monde

Lexington Herald-Leader

Liberation

Lincoln Journal Star

London Daily Telegraph

London Guardian

London Independent

London Register

London Sunday Telegraph

London Sunday Times

London Times

Los Angeles Daily Journal

Los Angeles Newspaper Group

Los Angeles Times

Louisville Courier-Journal

Maeil Business Newspaper

Magyar Szo

Mainichi Newspapers

Manchester Union Leader

McClatchy Newspapers

McClendon News Service

Media General News Service

Medill News Service

Megawatt Daily

Military Update

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Munwha Ilbo

Myers News Service

Nachrichten fuer Aussenhandel

National Journal News Service

National Journal’s TechnologyDaily

National Post

Netherlands Press Association

Neue Zurcher Zeitung

New Haven Register

New York Daily News

New York Post

New York Times

Newhouse News Service

Newport News Daily Press

Newsday

Newspaper Enterprise Association

Nikkei

Nishi-Nippon Shimbun

Nordic Media

Northwest Newspapers

Notimex Mexican News Agency

O Estado De S. Paulo

Oil Daily

Oliphant News Service

Omaha World-Herald

Orange County Register

Orlando Sentinel

Palm Beach Post

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PlanetGov.com

Platt’s Oilgram News

Polish Press Agency

Portland Press Herald

Press Trust of India

Providence Journal

Religion News Service

Restructuring Today

Reuters

Rheinische Post

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Riverside Press-Enterprise

Roll Call Report Syndicate

Rzeczpospolita

SNG Newspapers

Sabah

San Antonio Express-News

San Francisco Chronicle

Sankei Shimbun

Saudi Press Agency

Schlein News Bureau

Science and Technology Daily

Scripps Howard News Service

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Segye Times

Sekai Nippo

Seoul Shinmun

Shearer and Glen News Enterprise

Sing Tao Daily

Singapore Straits Times

Solothurner Zeitung

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Southam News of Canada

Southwest News Service

Springer Foreign News Service

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

St. Paul Pioneer Press

St. Petersburg Times

States News Service

Stuttgarter Zeitung

Suara Merdeka

Suara Pembaruan

Suddeutsche Zeitung

Svenska Dagbladet

Sydney Morning Herald

Syracuse Post-Standard

Tages Anzeiger

Taipei Times

Taiwan Liberty Times

Taz-Die Tageszeitung

Tech Law Journal

Times of India

Tokyo-Chunichi Shimbun

Toronto Globe and Mail

Tribune De Geneve

Tufty News Service

Tulsa World

Turkiye Daily

US-Asian News Service

USA Today

United Daily News

United Media

United News of India

United Press International

United States Press

Vietnam News Agency

Virginian-Pilot

Wall Street Journal

Washington Bureau News

Washington Fax

Washington Post

Washington Post-Newsbytes

Washington Telecommunications

Washington Times

WashingtonPost.com

Wen Hui Bao Daily

Westdeutsche Allgemeine

William Scally Reports

Winston-Salem Journal

World Journal

Xinhua News Agency

Yedioth Ahronoth

Yomiuri Shimbun

Yonhap News Agency

Joseph Farah

Joseph Farah is founder, editor and chief executive officer of WND. He is the author or co-author of 13 books that have sold more than 5 million copies, including his latest, "The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament." Before launching WND as the first independent online news outlet in 1997, he served as editor in chief of major market dailies including the legendary Sacramento Union. Read more of Joseph Farah's articles here.