BREAKING NEWS - SCOTT BAKER ON JEFF GANNON

I found this story by way of Attytood, but the real source material is here or here (I'm not sure how those "trackback" things work - sorry!)

Looks like Ruth Ann Dailey's ex-husband, and current anchor of the 5 O'Clock News at WTAE, Scott Baker outs himself as one of Jeff Gannon journalism teachers.

Why anyone would claim responsibility for any part of that trainwreck is completely beyond me.
Monsieur Boulanger (look it up - it's funny) is a blogger at Ariana Huffington's new Über-blog, The Huffington Post.

Here's how the Baker-man starts:

I’m the guy who taught Jeff Gannon everything he knows about journalism. Okay maybe not everything. I’m still not clear on (sorry all hyperlinks on this one freak me out) his evident self-description of “Position: Top.”

Ok Scott, here are the various overlapping definitions of "Top" that can be found at UrbanDictionary.com.

1. A man who likes giving anal intercourse to other men rather than receiving.
2. A person of any above description who "takes the lead" or is dominant in sexual situation. May or may not include S & M, fantasy role play or fetishes or servitude. May or may not want to be touched. Will initiate sex. If includes S & M, the top will be the one to do the bondage & pain play etc. to the bottom
3. A person who is in control in a BDSM relationship.

I'll leave it up up to you, Scott, as to whether you're lucky Gannon/Guckert didn't offer to fill you in on the definition. So now you know exactly what he was offering (for a hefty fee) on his website.

But hey, aren't conservatives supposed to be against that sort of thing? Or are all those "sanctity of marriage" referenda about something else?

In any event, Scott Baker uses his inaugural blog entry to mention the Jeff Gannon story in Vanity Fair.

There are some interesting tidbits that come from Attytood: Scott Baker is a graduate (scroll down to page 19) of The Leadership Institute of Broadcast Journalism. And while Scott describes his own "simple little" seminar there with:

This is what I get for trying to teach a simple little seminar on media career strategies? Jeff Gannon as my star student? I had more modest goals. Most kids trying to dive into media careers fail miserably. So maybe I can nudge them with a few helpful ideas. Hoped for result: entry level job in, say, a small market television station. Not so hoped for: center square of odd journalism scandal.

The Vanity Fair article calls it a seminar for “aspiring right-wing journalists.” My mantra to the students involves getting rid of the “right-wing” and esteeming the value of solid day-to-day journalism. Good old-fashioned storytelling.

The website for the institute describes the institute this way (indeed it's the first sentence on the first page):

The Leadership Institute, founded in 1979 by Morton C. Blackwell, is the oldest and most-respected training organization for conservative leaders at the local, state and national levels. Over the years, more than 40,000 of today's conservative "movers and shakers" have turned to the Leadership Institute for their training needs.

So I guess there's something of a dissonance between Scott's mantra and how the Institute presents itself.

So Scott Baker, gratuate of the conservative training organization.

Tell me again about the liberal media bias?