An anonymous media watcher writes:

I am amazed there has been no reaction that I have traced to the Jeff
Gannon story – have you noticed it in the Australian press? It has
everything – sex, sleaze, hypocrisy unmasked, right wing gays, security
breaches, etc, etc.

I am especially surprised at the lack of interest in the security aspects –
a person with a false name was able to evade FBI vetting and get into the
White House Press Corp with White House assistance – the same person who
seems to be the missing link in the criminal exposure of a CIA agent –
why is the Australian media so disinterested? Conspiracy theorists –
start your engines!

CRIKEY: Indeed, we missed this one too – but it’s a cracking yarn that the US media seems unwilling to explore.

It emerged last month that the Bush administration had granted regular
press access to a right wing blogger named Jeff Gannon who had a habit
of asking Bush easy questions during difficult press conferences.
Liberal bloggers revealed that Gannon was operating under a pseudonym
and that he was linked
to several gay pornographic websites addresses under his real
idenity, James Guckert.

So how was right wing blogger from a questionable news organisation
granted such access? And how did he slip through the usually rigorous
screening process for such a position?

The Observer writes, “He was writing under a
false name and working for a Republican front organisation. Suddenly,
his ‘softball’ questions to White House officials looked less like
eccentricities and more like plotting by an administration which has
frequently displayed a dark mastery of the arts of press control.

“Gannon” temporarily shut down his website – www.jeffgannon.com – but it seems to be up and running again now. And you can find a pretty good account of the whole saga here.