pay-for-say, pay-to-say, pay-to-pander (was: Pay-to-Sway)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 22:20:14 EST, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

>PAY-TO-SWAY
>...
>No, not that kind of sway! Errol Louis (the former New York Sun
>columnist who the New York Times should have hired) has a great column
>(again) in today's New York Daily News, 28 January 2005, pg. 51, cols.
>1-3, "On  Ethics" by Errol Louis, "Wake up, Maggie: Another
>conservative columnist is  clueless in pay-to-sway scandal."

There doesn't seem to be a consensus yet on a catchy name for the scandal
involving Armstrong Williams et al., though variations on "pay-for-play"
(from the payola scandal) are popular.  "Pay-to-sway" is perhaps the
favorite (thanks to a Jan. 26 Human Rights Campaign press release about
Maggie Gallagher), but there are some alternatives in circulation.  I just
noticed "pay-for-say" on Salon.com, and the conservative columnist
Michelle Malkin is partial to "pay-to-pander"...


* pay-for-say

http://www.ku.edu/~kudems/blogarchives/2005_01_09_blog_archive.html
KU Democrats, "Is there no shame?", Jan. 15, 2005
First it was the Armstrong pay-for-say scandal...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/02/01/fairness/index.html
Salon, "Fair and balanced?", Feb. 1, 2005
Some Democrats are using Bush's pay-for-say media scandals to push for a
new Fairness Doctrine for broadcasting.


* pay-to-say

http://gothhouse.blogspot.com/2005/01/no-amount-of-cynicism-is-too-much.html
Goth House, "No amount of cynicism is too much", Jan. 11, 2005
The unfolding pay-to-say scandal...

http://casf.blogspot.com/2005/01/pay-to-say.html
Cultivating a Small Field, "pay to say", Jan. 18, 2005


* pay-to-pander

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/001179.htm
Michelle Malkin, Jan. 7, 2005
"Rodney Paige, Armstrong Williams, and the 'pay to pander' scandal"

http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/050113/Opinion_pander.asp
Winchester Star, Jan. 13, 2005
"Pay to Pander Was 'Pathetic'"

http://www.nationalledger.com/commentary/article_153.shtml
National Ledger, Jan. 17, 2005
Speaking of being in denial, some conservatives argue that the Pay to
Pander program is no big deal compared to the CBS scandal.

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/001334.htm
Michelle Malkin, Jan. 25, 2005
You all know how I feel about the Bush administration's media
"pay-to-pander" scandal.


--Ben Zimmer