We Want Media

I subscribe to a conservative website called Human Events Online. No, I'm not a conservative, but I have nothing against them. No, really--I don't.

What's great about my Human Events Online subscription is that: a) It's free, and b) It gives me access to a number of other conservative publications that a Washington outsider like myself would have no other way of accessing.
 A few days ago, I got an interesting email from syndicated columnist Bob Novak. It was personally addressed to me, which is always great because, you know, it's always important to make your readers feel comfortable. It started a little something like this:

Dear Carolyn,

When was the last time you sat in a room just a few feet from the likes of Vice President Cheney or Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, asked a question and got a straightforward answer

At this point, I reached for my planner. No meetings with the likes of Cheney or Reid appeared.

Unless you have attended the Evans-Novak Political Forum," you may have never had this experience.

I haven't, attended the Evans-Novak Political Forum that is, so that answered that question. I read on.

Twice a year my friend, Bob Novak, brings together a select few of the nation's leaders in a one-day Forum at an exclusive, private club in Washington, DC...The answers are frank and open, because there are no reporters. This meeting is 100% off the record.

Being that Novak had taken the time to contact me personally, I figured some under the table deal could be worked out--no problem. Then, Bob dropped the bomb.

For the Evans-Novak Political Forum the registration fee is $595 per person. And as a special benefit, you may bring up to two guests for just $395 per person.

Man, I don't even make that in a week. Two weeks for that matter. In fact, the average full-time worker would have to spend more than half of a week's pay just to pay the tab. So, if an average Joe Blogg like myself can't get "frank and open" answers from our nation's elite simply by reading a newspaper, or watching the State of the Union address, then of what value is the morning New York Times I reach for when I want an honest report on the news of the day? Is government transparency a right of all Americans, or a privilege reserved for the knowledge elite? Furthermore, I'm studying journalism--was I in the wrong business?

I don't have the answers to these questions, but I just got finished emailing Bobby. He should get back to me--no problem. Thank God, I've got people like him to keep me in the know.