300 WORDS OR LESS: 06.18.09

Blowing the Whistle

If not for the turmoil in Iran, accounts of the firing of Gerald Walpin certainly would have gotten more news coverage this week. The Obama administration's dismissal of the inspector general for the AmeriCorps federal "volunteer" program has all the makings of a classic Beltway "cover-up" scandal. Not even the sycophantic White House press corps will be able to ignore this story for long.

Washington is a six-newspaper town nowadays -- in addition to The Washington Post and The Washington Times, there's also Roll Call, The Hill, Politico and the Washington Examiner. So far, the Examiner has done the most reporting on "IG-Gate," but the Times is racing to catch up, and Politico is on the story, too.

This old-fashioned newspaper war, where every outfit in town is vying for the latest scoop, will be amplified by the blogosphere.

IG-Gate got major coverage Wednesday when one journalist with multimedia clout, syndicated columnist/blogger/Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, outlined the case to date. Another multimedia star, radio-talker/Fox News host Glenn Beck, scored the first exclusive TV interview with Walpin.

While ABC News was planning ObamaCare infomercials and MSNBC was airing its 24/7 paeans to the president, something unexpected happened -- real news. As the Sacramento Bee scores a scoop on the FBI investigation and Sen. Charles Grassley starts asking questions, any networks and other news organizations that try to ignore IG-Gate do so at their own peril.

The first major scandal of the Obama administration could blow the whistle that awakes a Washington press corps that's been asleep at the switch too long.

-- RSM