BBG Watch Commentary
“Gary from Tallahassee,” who some suspect is a former senior Voice of America (VOA) English Newsroom correspondent highly respected by his former colleagues for his journalistic skills, has criticized a recent VOA report as flawed in terms of facts and the lack of countervailing balance.
In a comment under the VOA report on the controversial film about the San Jose Mercury-News reporter’s also controversial reporting on the CIA and the Contras’ drug trafficking operations, “‘Kill the Messenger’ Puts Integrity of US Media in Question,” “Gary from Tallahassee” wrote:
GARY FROM TALAHASSEE: “‘In 1998, Inspector General Frederick Hitz released a report connecting the CIA directly to the Contras’ drug trafficking operations.’ This is absolutely incorrect. Hitz’ report said the CIA did not look too closely at the Contras’ activities, but cleared the agency of any connection to the drug operations.” (…) “I remember this story very well. ‘The well-known connection between the CIA and the drug traffickers.??? Why is there also not countervailing balance from some journalism academic about how sloppy Webb’s reporting actually was, how he used sketchy sourcing to draw specious connections?”
The full comment from “Gary from Talahassee” is posted under the VOA report.