Rick Moran
Hillary Clinton chose the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention to admit she "short-circuited" her answers on the email controversy.
She chose well. During her address, the "journalists" in the audience cheered and clapped for Clinton, interrupting her about a dozen times. And then there was the carefully screened "Q&A" as some of these same "journalists" who had recently been cheering her became little more than props in her campaign asking her questions.
Clinton officials as well as representatives of the two "journalistic" organizations insist that the Kabuki dance between Clinton and the "reporters" should be considered a "press conference" – the first in more than 230 days for the candidate.
Her prepared remarks, and her answers during a Q&A session that followed, received a warm welcome from an audience comprised mostly of African-American and Hispanic journalists
Though not all of the clapping and cheering was directed at Clinton, as convention-goers also directed their appreciation towards guests in the audience and at mentions of others in media, the former secretary of state was nevertheless the chief recipient of the audience's approval.
Following her speech, Clinton participated in a Q&A with five pre-selected journalists.
Two journalists who asked Clinton questions, NBC News' Kristen Welker and Telemundo's Lori Montenegro, also doubled as moderators for the Q&A session. Additional questions came from three journalists in the audience.
The event's organizers and Clinton's campaign team maintain that the Q&A portion of the candidate's appearance at the journalism convention constituted a "press conference."
That means, then, that the Democratic presidential candidate held a "press conference" in a room filled with people who just moments earlier were cheering and applauding her vision for the White House.
NABJ President Sarah Glover said Friday that Clinton's appearance marked the "largest press conference with any presidential candidate before a room filled with journalists of color."
From the rest of the political press – silence. That this travesty of journalism could go unnoticed and unremarked upon by other reporters covering the event defies belief.
This is how freedom dies – with thunderous applause.
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