Ex-NPR reporter refers to lawmakers as*holes who spin too much.

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blankslate

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Jun 16, 2008
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I came across this story Ex-NPR Hill Reporter: Lied to Daily

“I realized that there is a part of covering Congress, if you’re doing daily coverage, that is actually sort of colluding with the politicians themselves because so much of what I was doing was actually recording and playing what they say or repeating what they say,” Seabrook told POLITICO.

“And I feel like the real story of Congress right now is very much removed from any of that, from the sort of theater of the policy debate in Congress, and it has become such a complete theater that none of it is real. … I feel like I am, as a reporter in the Capitol, lied to every day, all day. There is so little genuine discussion going on with the reporters. … To me, as a reporter, everything is spin.”
Kind of interesting to hear a reporter say those things because it's doubtful that lawmakers would want to talk to one who says "I feel like I'm being lied to."

She left NPR and is starting DecodeDC to be able to cover stories about capital hill that she just didn't have time to while at NPR.

“We need to stop coddling lawmakers, stop buying their red team, blue team narrative and ask harder questions of them,” Seabrook says in an introductory audio clip. Turns out plenty of people agree with her, including SoundCloud, which granted Seabrook’s project a fellowship to support her work.
”I am going to try to focus myself on the stories that none of the other reporters have time to cover,” she said.
The site is a blog and if she calls out a conservative she'll be called biased. Likewise if she calls out a liberal.

However, this statement

“There’s a lot of great work being done,” said Seabrook. “I think the problem is the Congress itself. And we’re all in the same positions, scrambling to figure out how the hell to cover these a*sholes.”
makes me interested in checking up on www.decodedc.com every once in a while.

I agree with the bolded part. And I'm sure that this isn't news to people who follow politics

However, it's unusual to hear this from a reporter who covers Capital Hill.

If someone is willing to be a little more demanding instead of accepting and regurgitating talking points spouted by lawmakers it might be interesting.

Especially if no favorites are played... that's the real question though. How do you do that without turning off hardliners of any stripe.
 
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