More media payola - surprise, surprise?

In lieu of Armstrong Williams's $240,000 handshake from the Bush administration, more editors are surely assigning reporters to investigate whether other "journalists" are on the take. Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post turned up one today: syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher. According to the article, Gallagher had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the President's $300 million marriage initiative in 2002.

Here's a forehead-slapping quote from Gallagher: ""Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it? I don't know. You tell me."

Okay, Maggie - I'll tell you. F#$% yes, you did! Journalists shouldn't take money from organizations they're covering! Why is that so f#$%ing hard to understand? And don't play dumb - you know goddamn well that's a conflict of interest.