Conflict of interest watch: Ron Brownstein

The personal lives of journalists are none of my business -- except when they involve the public figures whom the journalists cover. A case in point is NBC's Andrea Mitchell, who frequently comments on matters involving the Federal Reserve without disclosing that her husband is Fed chairman Alan Greenspan. It's inappropriate.

So I was dismayed to discover today that Ron Brownstein, one of the best political journalists in the business, just got married to Eileen McMenamin, John McCain's communications director. According to the Times blurb and a report by the Washington Post's Al Kamen, McMenamin left CNN to take the job in February.

Here's the problem -- Brownstein wrote a column on April 25 that unrealistically touted McCain as a third party presidential candidate:

[I]f the two parties continue on their current trajectories, the backdrop for the 2008 election could be massive federal budget deficits, gridlock on problems like controlling healthcare costs, furious fights over ethics and poisonous clashes over social issues and Supreme Court appointments. A lackluster economy that's squeezing the middle-class seems a reasonable possibility too.

In such an environment, imagine the options available to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) if he doesn't win the 2008 Republican nomination, and former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, now that he's dropped his flirtation with running for mayor of New York. If the two Vietnam veterans joined for an all-maverick independent ticket, they might inspire a gold rush of online support — and make the two national parties the latest example of the Internet's ability to threaten seemingly impregnable institutions.

No disclosure of Brownstein's personal relationship with McMenamin appears in the online version of the article -- why? Isn't this an obvious conflict of interest that readers deserve to know about?

Comments

[Lou Grant]

Jesus Christ-- they just got married. I've worked with Eileen; she's a professional as is her husband. If you are going to suggest or hint of wrong-doing by folks, be ready to back it up with solid facts.

[edward b. Hauck]

The facts are Brownstein is married to McCain"s PR flack; ipso facto, by definition,. any piece on McCain by Brownstein is suspect, a conflict. The incumbency to prove otherwise redounds to the newly weds from henceforth, not the news . Posted by E. B. Hauck

[Rich Janow]

I don't see a conflict of interest here, but it may support Brownstein's claim that McCain is contemplating a third party effort. Mc Cain has nowhere to go in a Jihadist Republican firmament. You Washington Post reference indicates that McCain is hiring centrist democrats to replace those who leave, viz:

Eileen McMenamin, longtime and highly regarded
political producer for CNN... to become
communications director for the Arizona Republican,
replacing Marshall Wittmann, gone to the Democratic
Leadership Council.