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FORMER CONGRESSMAN AND AZERBAIJAN ADVOCATE FINDS RECEPTIVE AUDIENCE AT DAILY CALLER
Washington Post
April 3 2015
By Erik Wemple April 3 at 2:11 PM
A couple of months back, the Washington Times ran an opinion piece
from Dan Burton titled "Why Azerbaijan is important to America and the
free world." As initially published, the Washington Times disclosed
that Burton was a former Republican congressman from Indiana.
But not his other, more relevant title: current chairman of the
Azerbaijan America Alliance, which in its own words strives to be the
"premier organization dedicated to promoting a lasting partnership
between Azerbaijan and America." Burton's piece appeared in the
same edition of the Washington Times as a special section titled,
""Azerbaijan: A Quarter Century Since Restoring Independence, A
Thriving U.S. Ally." After the Erik Wemple Blog alerted the newspaper
to Burton's nonexistent disclaimer, it added in his chairmanship of
the Azerbaijan America Alliance.
Yet Burton appears to have found another organization willing to
publish his thoughts without highlighting his position. Witness a
Burton-penned March 12 piece in the Daily Caller titled, "Is Armenia
America's Ally Or Iran's?" What follows the headline is an out-and-out
hit piece on Armenia. This passage represents the tone pretty capably:
Further evidence of Armenian/Iranian friendship is plentiful. Both
Tehran and Yerevan have pushed hard for progress on the construction
of the Southern Armenia Railway, which will more closely link the
two countries. Meanwhile, in May 2014, Iran and Armenia increased
weekly flights between the two countries from three to 50. That's
not tourism. That's business.
Elsewhere, Burton writes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is
vested in promoting "the burgeoning Armenian/Iranian partnership. And
we have everything to lose." Those words sound like just the sort
of thing you'd expect from the chairman of the Azerbaijan America
Alliance. After all, Azerbaijan and Armenia have become "perilously
close to open war," as the New York Times put it in late January.
There have been recent reports of clashes between the two.
So how does the Daily Caller present Burton to its readers? This way:
Photo: Dan Burton, Former Congressman
And this way, in a tagline at the bottom of the piece: _____
Dan Burton is a former Member of Congress representing Indiana's
5th Congressional District. He served in Congress from 1983 until
2013 notably serving on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
_____
An inquiry to Tucker Carlson, the Daily Caller's top editor, went
unanswered.
Not much luck, likewise, with the Azerbaijan America Alliance. The Erik
Wemple Blog sent an interview request to the organization yesterday
and didn't hear back by this morning, at which point we presented
ourselves at the Pennsylvania Avenue address listed on the group's Web
site. After a short wait, a woman appeared to hear our request. She
said that the questions I had were properly directed to Burton. When we
asked for assistance in contacting Burton, she declined to provide any.
In a short phone chat with Burton, the advocacy group chairman asked,
"Are you the one who's been calling everyone about my op-eds?" Yes,
responded the Erik Wemple Blog. "I don't really want to talk to you,"
said Burton. Why not? "Because you're a scandal monger and I don't
want to talk to you. I have no desire to talk to you," he said. A
plea to hear out the Erik Wemple Blog fetched no response.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2015/04/03/former-congressman-and-azerbaijan-advocate-finds-receptive-audience-at-daily-caller/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Washington Post
April 3 2015
By Erik Wemple April 3 at 2:11 PM
A couple of months back, the Washington Times ran an opinion piece
from Dan Burton titled "Why Azerbaijan is important to America and the
free world." As initially published, the Washington Times disclosed
that Burton was a former Republican congressman from Indiana.
But not his other, more relevant title: current chairman of the
Azerbaijan America Alliance, which in its own words strives to be the
"premier organization dedicated to promoting a lasting partnership
between Azerbaijan and America." Burton's piece appeared in the
same edition of the Washington Times as a special section titled,
""Azerbaijan: A Quarter Century Since Restoring Independence, A
Thriving U.S. Ally." After the Erik Wemple Blog alerted the newspaper
to Burton's nonexistent disclaimer, it added in his chairmanship of
the Azerbaijan America Alliance.
Yet Burton appears to have found another organization willing to
publish his thoughts without highlighting his position. Witness a
Burton-penned March 12 piece in the Daily Caller titled, "Is Armenia
America's Ally Or Iran's?" What follows the headline is an out-and-out
hit piece on Armenia. This passage represents the tone pretty capably:
Further evidence of Armenian/Iranian friendship is plentiful. Both
Tehran and Yerevan have pushed hard for progress on the construction
of the Southern Armenia Railway, which will more closely link the
two countries. Meanwhile, in May 2014, Iran and Armenia increased
weekly flights between the two countries from three to 50. That's
not tourism. That's business.
Elsewhere, Burton writes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is
vested in promoting "the burgeoning Armenian/Iranian partnership. And
we have everything to lose." Those words sound like just the sort
of thing you'd expect from the chairman of the Azerbaijan America
Alliance. After all, Azerbaijan and Armenia have become "perilously
close to open war," as the New York Times put it in late January.
There have been recent reports of clashes between the two.
So how does the Daily Caller present Burton to its readers? This way:
Photo: Dan Burton, Former Congressman
And this way, in a tagline at the bottom of the piece: _____
Dan Burton is a former Member of Congress representing Indiana's
5th Congressional District. He served in Congress from 1983 until
2013 notably serving on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
_____
An inquiry to Tucker Carlson, the Daily Caller's top editor, went
unanswered.
Not much luck, likewise, with the Azerbaijan America Alliance. The Erik
Wemple Blog sent an interview request to the organization yesterday
and didn't hear back by this morning, at which point we presented
ourselves at the Pennsylvania Avenue address listed on the group's Web
site. After a short wait, a woman appeared to hear our request. She
said that the questions I had were properly directed to Burton. When we
asked for assistance in contacting Burton, she declined to provide any.
In a short phone chat with Burton, the advocacy group chairman asked,
"Are you the one who's been calling everyone about my op-eds?" Yes,
responded the Erik Wemple Blog. "I don't really want to talk to you,"
said Burton. Why not? "Because you're a scandal monger and I don't
want to talk to you. I have no desire to talk to you," he said. A
plea to hear out the Erik Wemple Blog fetched no response.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2015/04/03/former-congressman-and-azerbaijan-advocate-finds-receptive-audience-at-daily-caller/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress