Ten Wall Street Journal op-ed writers who weren’t disclosed as Romney campaign advisers

By ERIC HANANOKI
19 September 2012 (Media Matters) – The Wall Street Journal has published op-eds from 10 writers without disclosing their roles as advisers to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. The op-eds attack President Obama and his administration or discuss Romney on a range of topics like the economy, health care, education and foreign policy. According to a Media Matters review, the Journal published a total of 23 pieces from the following Romney advisers without disclosing their campaign ties: John Bolton; Max Boot; Lee A. Casey; Paula Dobriansky; Mary Ann Glendon; Glenn Hubbard; Michael Mukasey; Paul E. Peterson; David B. Rivkin Jr.; and Martin West. In several instances, the Journal failed to disclose an op-ed writer’s connection despite its own news section reporting that the writer is advising Romney. With respect to one writer, the Journal disclosed his ties to the campaign in an initial op-ed but failed to do so in subsequent op-eds. With regard to another, the paper failed to disclose the campaign ties in an initial op-ed but did do so in later pieces. The eight remaining writers have not had their Romney connections disclosed in any of their op-eds following the publication of those ties, according to Media Matters‘ review. Media Matters previously documented that the Journal regularly fails to disclose columnist Karl Rove’s ties to the super PAC American Crossroads and its related organization Crossroads GPS, which are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat President Obama and other Democratic candidates. The paper’s lack of disclosure on Rove has drawn criticism from some of America’s top editorial page editors as well as Trevor Potter, who served as general counsel to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaigns. Fox News, which, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp., has had similar problems. There have been numerous instances in which the network has hosted Romney advisers John Bolton, Elaine Chao, Jay Sekulow, and Walid Phares without disclosing their ties. Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot and spokespersons for the paper and for News Corp. did not respond to requests for comment. This post will be updated as we discover new examples of the Journal failing to disclose Romney advisers writing in its pages. Role with Romney campaign: Foreign policy adviser. [MittRomney.com, 3/27/12; The New York Times, 6/27/12]; Campaign surrogate. [MittRomney.com, 8/11/12; 8/23/12; Palm Beach Post, 9/9/12] The WSJ reported in a July 22 article, headlined, “Romney’s Top Foreign-Policy Advisers: Moderates, Neocons”: “The neoconservative wing is represented but doesn’t dominate the group. While former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton offers advice, he isn’t one of the most prominent figures.” WSJ non-disclosure: Two op-eds. In an April 29 op-ed about President Obama’s policy with regard to Syria, the Journal disclosed that Bolton “advises Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.” That note was not included in two later Bolton op-eds despite discussion of Obama in those pieces:

A July 17 op-ed questioned President Obama’s support of the Law of the Sea Treaty. Bolton also attacked the U.S. for a “lack of effective” oversight of the United Nations.
A September 10 op-ed criticized President Obama over foreign policy and allegedly weakening the U.S. Navy.

In those two op-eds, the WSJ identified Bolton as: “Mr. Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of “Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations” (Simon & Schuster, 2007).” […]