Comments on: Center for American Progress Action Fund CEO Hijacks Matt Yglesias’ Blog

By: CO

CO — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:15:16 +0000

I see what Bobby's saying... Palmieri is covering her tail with Third Way, while pointing out that the beauty of Yglesias's blog is that he gets to say pretty much what he wants even though it's hosted by CAP. I think this story is mostly funny for the inside baseball of the CAP/Third Way relationship, more than it is a serious "censorship" issue.

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:07:55 +0000

@Bobby: Mind revealing who you work for? (Y'know, seeing as you're the first person on the entire Internet who's commented on this story in defense of Palmieri...)

By: Bobby

Bobby — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:01:27 +0000

There's no "editorial encroachment" here. Yglesias is writing under CAP's 501(c)(4)lobbying arm, and Palmieri's comment is a editorial clarification, not an encroachment. Many non-profit media start-ups, like CAP, have both non-partisan think tanks and more advocacy-based outreach units under the same wing - they're attributed separately for tax purposes. Yglesias shouldn't be taken as the Center's editorial voice on anything, really, as it could jeopardize CAP's relationship with important allies. Much like how columnists or op-ed writers don't represent the opinion of a newspaper, Yglesias doesn't represent the collective direction of CAP. Someone from Third Way might stumble across his post and take it as a company snubbing. When a writer's "editorial voice" functions within a non-profit umbrella organization, a CEO, like an editor, can provide disambiguation to the readers in the interest of organization. That's all Palmieri was doing. Oh, and your comparison of federal airwaves to a private organization doesn't hold up. I have faith in CAP's own policy of free expression, but Constitutional "free speech" applies to government entities, not private companies.