The thing about being a journalist, web or otherwise, is you are essentially always on the job, and sometimes you’re on the clock when you least expect it. Rufus Edmisten, former attorney general and secretary of state for North Carolina turned Philip Morris/Sprint/Alltel lobbyist, was informed of my occupation more than once—web journalist, I told him—which didn’t seem to register on any particular level with him.
Google Gets Former DOJ Lobbyist
Lobbyists work on behalf of all sorts of nasty causes – some people might not approve of oil companies and tobacco corporations, for example. But lobbyists also work on behalf of charitable organizations and the like. And now one more lobbyist works for Google.