Turns out the Bush administration hasn't cornered the market on pay-for-puff journalism.
The city of Baltimore has offered free trips to Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, Phoenix and Seattle to reporters willing to write positive stories about public transit projects there.
"The city wants a total of 4 freelance journalists and/or bloggers (one person per trip) to accompany them on an expense-paid trip (air fare, hotel and meals) in exchange for positive stories in local newspapers or blogs about the transit tours before, during and after," wrote Sandra L. Harley, president of Sahara Communications, a city subcontractor.
Harley sent the message to a reporter at a small local paper, asking for a list of potentially on-the-take journalists. Not that Harley saw it that way.
She told The Sun's John Fritze that she saw nothing unethical about offering junkets for good news coverage - particularly since she claims she was really aiming for bloggers, not traditional newspaper reporters.
"For me, bloggers are the new journalists," she said. "They have lots of sources. That's what we're hoping to get out of it. We're trying to get a whole lot of sources."
But Jamie Kendrick, deputy director for administration for the city's Transportation Department, opted against the blogger defense. He said the city was trying to get transit coverage in small papers that don't have the means to send reporters.
"I'm not looking to buy a story," Kendrick said. "The point was to provide small, neighborhood papers the opportunity to participate."
City transportation officials seemed unable to decide if they'd authorized Sahara's solicitation - or if the offer was still on the table.
When Fritze first inquired about it, transportation spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes put him in touch with Sahara. Later, Barnes said the department "did not authorize or sanction the release of the information by Sahara." Sahara later retracted the message, calling the whole thing "an honest mistake."
So the junket's off?
"We're not going to do it," Barnes said. "That's not going to happen. Period."
Five minutes later, Barnes called back and said an entity other than the city - perhaps the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, a pro-public-transit coalition of business and nonprofit types - might pay reporters' way instead.
Gee, that'll make it all on the up-and-up. Why doesn't Ron Lipscomb just pick up the tab?
