Obama's Volunteer PR Staff that is the Chicago Press Corps

Tom Roeser in The Chicago Daily Observer reports:

Here is a published interview with CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery about Barack Obama contained in “Chicago Life” magazine political issue which was distributed with “The New York Times” yesterday (I stopped when he got to non-germane issues i.e. the legislature, Blagojevich, the admittedly weak state of the GOP).

In it you find a serious rupture of a newsman’s neutrality with a politician he covers. Notice the exhilaration that Obama was driving his own car, American-made and SMARTLY, too. Notice there are no leaks from inside the Obama campaign but there is no recognition of reported newsmen’s dissatisfaction with how they’re kept from the candidate. Nary a mention of that. Notice he predicts Obama will be president in 2006 and importunes him to invite him to the White House Christmas party, give him a sample Christmas tree ornament and allow a picture to be taken with Flannery’s kids. Any reasonable editor would see the inability of Flannery to be even-handed as result of this interview.

Now about this strange publication that Flannery has allowed himself to be interviewed by. It is obvious advertising material-in this case since it is a political issue, pro-Obama advertising. “The New York Times” labels it as an advertising supplement. But the supplement flaunts a strange demurrer of the “Times’” own legal disclaimer. Here is what the demurrer says:

“Although the legal disclaimer, “Advertising Supplement,” is printed on the cover and throughout Chicago Life, the magazine neither sells nor promises editorial [sic] to advertisers and keeps a strict separation between advertising and editorial. 45,900 copies of Chicago Life are distributed by The New York Times in the Chicago area.”

You'll want to read the whole article.