-By Warner Todd Huston
The widely read California website Calbuzz bills itself as a site offering political news, analysis, commentary, “and more about California and beyond.” During this election cycle, though, the “and more” seems to indicate that Calbuzz is operating as the publicity shop for Democrat Jerry Brown’s campaign for Governor because so far they’ve spent little time offering straight news about the race. Instead the site is constantly offering flattering Brown stories while just as constantly savaging Meg Whitman’s Republican campaign for that office.
Calbuzz gets a lot of respect from California’s Old Media and political establishment and that should come as no surprise. It isn’t necessarily because it is such a hard-nosed news service but because the website’s chief cook and bottle washers are members of that Old Media establishment.
Jerry Roberts is a journalist and former managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and Phil Trounstine is the former political editor of the San Jose Mercury News as well as a Democrat operative from former Gov. Gray Davis’s office. These two fellows have the inside track with both the Old Media establishment as well as the Democrat Party. This should make clear why they can’t write a positive story about Meg Whitman, too. It’s no wonder they can’t write a positive story about Whitman. It just isn’t in their DNA.
I guess the big question here is where does Jerry Brown send his check for all the hard publicity work that Calbuzz does for him?
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When Did Calbuzz Become Jerry Brown’s Personal Communications Shop?”