One of the enduring questions in public debate the past few years has been: is the media biased?

Due to the explosion of partisan print and talk-radio outlets in the past 10 years, as well as an Internet blog revolution that has democratized the way citizens get their news, I’ll be using “media” to denote mainstream network and cable broadcast outlets and newspapers.

A better question might be: Is the media bought and paid for?

At least in some instances, the answer is “yes.” In the past few weeks, several scandals have come to light that reveal the Bush administration’s involvement in bribery schemes with reporters. The Department of Education paid conservative columnist and TV pundit Armstrong Williams $240,000 to promote President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Williams, quick to share the blame, ominously declared, “There are others.”

The “others” showed up in relatively short time. A few days later, it was discovered that Universal Press Syndicate columnist Maggie Gallagher was paid $21,000 by the Department of Health and Human Services to write favorably about the president’s marriage initiative. She explained that she had “forgotten” about the arrangement, and that’s why she hadn’t disclosed the conflict of interest to her readers. Man, I can’t wait for the day when I can not only get paid $21,000 for my writing but can also “forget” about it.

Thirdly, conservative columnist Michael McManus, who writes a column titled – I kid you not – “Ethics & Religion,” was bribed $10,000 to promote the same program.

Curiously enough, the pattern of deception goes back further. Early last year, when the president was working to sell his boondoggle Medicare bill, several news stations aired a press release that featured a reporter named Karen Ryan, who explained the benefits of the president’s plan. The only problem was: Karen Ryan wasn’t a reporter. She was a public relations shill hired by the Department of Health and Human Services to produce a piece of propaganda that looked like a legitimate news report.

Perhaps the worst of all of these is the recent story of Jeff Gannon, a member of the White House press corps. Gannon, who threw nothing but softball questions at the president during his tenure as Talon News’ chief reporter, is actually James Guckert, a Republican activist pretending to be a journalist. Talon News is actually a part of GOPUSA, a Republican advocacy group.

The real question is how Guckert, a partisan ringer using a fake name, managed to get credentials that allowed him such extraordinary access to the White House. Talon News was denied access last year by the Standing Committee of Correspondents, the group that distributes credentials for the press corps. That means someone in the administration intervened on Guckert’s behalf. The matter is now the subject of an investigation by congressional representatives John Conyers, Jr. and Louise M. Slaughter.

These situations would all be laughable if they weren’t so serious and if the government wasn’t using our own money to manipulate us. If nothing else, these examples highlight the vital need to get your news from more than one source.

Preferably ones that haven’t prostituted themselves.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.