Blame the economy.
In addition to Elizabeth Edwards, the source (National Enquirer), and plain old bias, add economic hardship to the list of reasons the MSM failed to investigate the Edwards scandal.
Howard Kurtz, in his "Media Notes" column surveyed the scene surrounding the deafening silence of the media gatekeepers:
By early last week, journalists were in the awkward position of refusing to report on explosive allegations that were almost certain to knock the former North Carolina senator out of the Democratic convention. They were in a box of their own making, one that came to feel airtight and uncomfortable.
When critics, especially on the right, accused the media of protecting a Democrat because of liberal bias, journalists were unable to respond, because to do so would be to acknowledge the very thing they were declining to report.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓At the same time, in an area [sic] of financial cutbacks and shrinking staffs, news organizations have fewer reporters to dig into what most considered a less-than-pressing priority.
Oh yeah, I forgot one other reason: they didn't want to admit they were wrong.
Add 'journalistic hubris' to the list of reasons it took so long for Rielle Hunter to become a household name.
Later in Kurtz's piece, he quotes New York Times Executive Editor, Bill Keller, who referred to the "hold-your-nose quality about the Enquirer."
No doubt, this played a role.
And for some journalists, this may have been the biggest reason they decided not to run the piece. Or, in other words, rather than being influenced by liberal bias, many journalists may simply have had the attitudinal bias to which Keller refers.
After speaking with a number of our friends currently in, or recently graduated from, journalism school, many of them echoed the same sentiment as Keller, without having read or heard the quote.
They don't do that type of journalism.That stuff they leave to Fox News and, of course, National Enquirer.
This reflects the group-think that infects much of the MSM. There are a few at the top who decide what the tone and tenor of a story will be (or if the Edwards scandal will even be a story) and then the cadre of mindless worker bees simply do what they're told.
All of this is to say that at the top, among the so-called elite news outlets Kurtz and other apologists refer to (NYT, WaPo, et al.), there is a clear liberal bias. It is this liberal bias that prints unfounded libel about John McCain, but avoids, for months, the smoke surrounding John Edwards.
The lower level types, who take their marching orders from NYT editors (the ones who don't think for themselves), they may be able to claim Kurtz & co.'s excuses, but the ones at the top, the ones highlighted here at NewsBusters, they can not.
—Jacob S. Lybbert is an editorial associate at NewsBusters.


















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Comments Policy
"acknowledge the very thing they were declining to report"
August 12, 2008 - 07:06 ET by sarcasmoThat's the funny/ironic aspect of Wolfson's rant yesterday.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Couldn't Blame Bush
August 12, 2008 - 07:13 ET by allanfI think the crack in Newsbusted 119 was on target. They had to hold back until they could think of a way to blame President Bush.
What is happening to the world, First Dan Rather is done in by a bunch of bloggers in pajamas. Now the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS are utterly humiliated by the New York Times.
Even if the affair did not meet their "high" journalistic standards, the story of the money trail did.
Sort of looks like the dog
August 12, 2008 - 07:53 ET by 10ksnookerSort of looks like the dog ate my homework when you hold it up to the light, doesn't it ...
To liberals, logic is the enemy ... It's to be destroyed at all costs.
That sounds like an Obama
August 12, 2008 - 08:22 ET by kgThat sounds like an Obama political answer. Lots of words and saying nothing.
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
jWHOREnalists
August 12, 2008 - 07:10 ET by Melodic_MetalYou know, it's is very disappointing that our MSM is so transparently biased. How can some of these loony leftists claim the media is in FAVOR of Conservatives when it is clearly the opposite as evidence of such is provided daily? Hold back on a story because it came from the National Enquirer, but acquire a 'document' about a sitting REPUBLICAN President that you were warned by analysts NOT to use? HELL! That's front page news baby! Every time I hear these cretins speak, or read one of their 'pieces', I feel a little bit more of that secure feeling being eroded away by the 'nuanced' elites. Journalism used to mean something. It used to be respected as a well researched profession that the American people could depend on. Now it's nothing more than a mouthpiece, shield, campaign organizer for the DNC, and an all out assault force on Conservatives. I know I am preaching to the quire here, but it is getting ridiculous.
"To beat Violence, You must ignore the focus groups. You must send in the Mossad, turn off the BBC, CNN, and don't look back."
→ Tapdancing Journos
August 12, 2008 - 07:15 ET by Cool ArrowSome of the sloppiest tapdancing I've seen.
Of course Glenn Beck's show was a riot last night as he took the WSJ to task on this issue.
I ♣ my seal
Obama too Skinny
August 12, 2008 - 07:30 ET by allanfSo these pseudo "journalists" deemed the Edwards story unworthy. Yet they had room to print a made up news story about Obama being Too Skinny.
And the Times wonders why its stock is at $14.09 and profit is sinking.
Hold This
August 12, 2008 - 07:40 ET by NoMoreClintons"New York Times Executive Editor, Bill Keller, who referred to the "hold-your-nose quality about the Enquirer."
Funny, that's exactly how I feel about the NYT.
So the people who call
August 12, 2008 - 07:41 ET by benrandSo the people who call themselves the DECIDERS, the ones who craft our opinions, can only do so on the cheap, except when they find out about a guy like Mark Foley sending texts to young adult pages, then cover it with every resouce they can muster.
What a bunch of crap.
Let me get this straight...
August 12, 2008 - 07:43 ET by c5thenThe MSM has looked into the issue of MSM bias and has found that it can't find any bias in itself?
Does that about sum it up?
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
LOL... yea, that's it. They
August 12, 2008 - 08:43 ET by iconoclastLOL... yea, that's it. They are an arrogant bunch, aren't they.
"we should immediately give every working family in America a
$1,000 energy rebate, and we should pay for it with part of the record
profits that the oil companies are making" Barak Obama, Communist
the MSM really needs a
August 12, 2008 - 10:32 ET by TruthMongerthe MSM really needs a 12-step program right about now
ever try to get a druggie to admit they have a problem?
it can take a long long time
Journalism is the opium of the liberals
Liberal Bias Not to Blame
August 12, 2008 - 08:03 ET by Ole_Sarge"Oh yeah, I forgot one other reason: they didn't want to admit they were wrong."~Jake Lybbert
Of course not, why not be in cohoots with someone whose integrity is less than that of a flea -- wait, I think a flea DOES have more than the average Democrat!
Did you not get the memo that "Newspeak" is the language of this year's Presidential Elections????
Yes, Sarge
August 12, 2008 - 08:07 ET by Cool ArrowI got the message years ago the first time I heard a shrinking economy referred to as "a period of negative growth"
I ♣ my seal
How's this for a contradiction?
August 12, 2008 - 08:22 ET by KC MulvilleTimes are tough, so the mainstream media didn't have enough reporters to cover the story (pause) which would sell papers for weeks? They're telling us that they cover stories (pause) they can afford?
They didn't hold up their nose at the Enquirer. They held up their nose at the story itself, because of what it revealed about their pretty boy Edwards.
One wonders what they're holding back about Obama?
It's all BS. The MSM held
August 12, 2008 - 09:07 ET by iconoclastIt's all BS. The MSM held the story back to protect Obama. If Edwards had been taken out of the race, which this scandal surely would've done, then Hillary would've won. Edwards was the spoiler. At least that is Mark Levin's theory, and I'm with him on it.
"we should immediately give every working family in America a
$1,000 energy rebate, and we should pay for it with part of the record
profits that the oil companies are making" Barak Obama, Communist
This is just the MSM using
August 12, 2008 - 09:02 ET by cocodrieThis is just the MSM using lies and censorship to create history. These are the same people who promote Jimmy Carter as a great man even though he drove this country to economic ruin and also destroyed the Shah of Iran who, aside from Israel, was our closest ally in the Middle East. Jesus called satan the father of lies so the MSM must certainly be his children.
Look what the MSM did with
August 12, 2008 - 09:55 ET by marpelLook what the MSM did with John Kennedy's infidelity. They didn't disclose his White House sexual romps for years after he died. Kennedy was a Democrat. Look at Teddy Kennedy when he got liquored up and drove off that bridge with that poor girl, Mary Jo, in it. He was made into this sympathetic "victim". But, if a Republican is found out, it's splashed all over the place; in every kind of journalistic medium there is... It's stunning how the MSM thinks they are hiding this behavior, or lack thereof, from the American public. Who the heck do they think we are? A bunch of morons? They're the morons...
It's because of every
August 12, 2008 - 10:41 ET by Chris NormanIt's because of every possible and unlikely reason in the world, except the obvious liberal bias? They've got to work hard when they cover for the media.
McNotObama '08
More rope, please
August 12, 2008 - 21:13 ET by sawing battathis may be the best response one could hope for..like Silky himself, the Press is still in denial and trying to lie its way out of the mess they created for themselves.
An entirely new group of people - those who dont normally pay much attention to things like bias in the press - are realizing something about their sources of 'news'...and it isn't good for those sources.
Let the press continue to deny...give 'em all the rope they want. They are illuminating their bias to a whole new crowd by continuing to deny what is clearly on display for all to see.