Now, I know finding a Republican in Chicago city government is probably less likely than spotting a nudist in a porcupine convention, but is it asking too much for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times to add a D-tag when reporting on six-term (and freshly re-elected) Mayor Richard M. Daley's push for an 11 percent city sales tax and a 10-cent-per-bottle bottled water tax?
It's particularly puzzling given the Sun-Times excellent reporting by Tim Novak and Fran Spielman on the "hidden tax" imposed by corruption within the Daley administration:
When Mayor Daley asked Chicagoans to cough up $293 million more next year to finance the cost of city government, there's one tax he failed to mention: The Corruption, Waste and Mismanagement Tax.
It's almost impossible to calculate the cost of the Hired Truck, city hiring, minority contracting and police corruption scandals.
It's even harder to determine how much more it costs taxpayers when employees and contractors with clout are hired over more qualified competitors and then watched less closely.
But one thing is certain: Chicagoans pay a price for corruption, waste and fraud.
If they didn't, Daley would never have agreed to establish a $12 million fund to compensate victims of the city's rigged hiring system after the conviction of his former patronage chief. And the mayor would not have abolished a $40-million-a-year Hired Truck program so tarnished by scandal, a federal investigation has already resulted in 45 convictions, 29 of them city employees.
"There's still a corruption tax in Chicago," said Jay Stewart of the Better Government Association.
One-party machine politics and corruption go hand-in-hand, particularly in urban settings. So why do the Trib and Sun-Times -- even as they take issue with Daley's tax proposals in their editorial sections -- refuse to tag the pol by his party affiliation?
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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When someone is calling
October 15, 2007 - 11:26 ET by motherbeltWhen someone is calling for
an 11 percent city sales tax and a 10-cent-per-bottle bottled water tax
wouldn't mentioning that he's a Democrat be redundant?
Yes, it would, but still...
October 15, 2007 - 11:30 ET by Ken ShepherdYes, it would, but still...
What's the big deal?
October 15, 2007 - 12:10 ET byIf it's his "six term (and freshly re-elected)" don't most Chicagoans know that he is a Democrat? And as you say Ken, "finding a Republican in Chicago city government is probably less likely than spotting a in [sic] a porcupine convention." This is just nitpicking at it's worst. Aren't there better examples of liberal media bias out there?
IMO
October 15, 2007 - 12:18 ET by mattmThere probably are more, and better examples of media bias out there, but why exclude this?
This regular ommission of the (D) tag when a story about a Dem is negative or potentially negative is a major indicator of media bias.
It is as important as the unbalanced and disproportional reporting of scandals involving Republicans as compared to those involving Democrats. They are covering the tracks of Dems while propagandizing against Repubs...which is political activism, not joournalism.
This is not nitpicking in the least.
It's a big deal because it's Journalism 101
October 15, 2007 - 12:18 ET by sarcasmoAnd because many of us feel that there's a pattern to leaving-out that "-D" or "-R" despite the fact that putting it in:
1. Takes close to 0 space (yet I've literally seen that excuse!) and
2. Solves this problem. The problem here may be as much a perception of bias as actual bias, but that doesn't negate the problem because the perception is rather strong 'round these parts, possibly due to a lot of actual bias we've seen in the past...
Look, putting the party affiliation after politicians names is like washing your hands before you eat; this is factual, basic stuff for what are supposedly professional writers covering politics, which for better or worse involves parties. And while in this particular case it's arguably nitpicking, in general it's just a good practice.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
If it's his "six term (and
October 15, 2007 - 12:30 ET by motherbeltIf it's his "six term (and freshly re-elected)" don't most Chicagoans know that he is a Democrat?
Yes, most Chicagoans do, but nowadays "local" stories are read far beyond the "locality" where they occur.
It's also a big deal because...
October 15, 2007 - 12:33 ET by sarcasmoIt's effectively anti-third-party bias, and we already see plenty of that. If this politician were a Green or a Libertarian or ANYthing besides a Democrat or (sometimes) a Republican, you can bet your bottom penny that his/her party affiliation's gonna get mentioned 100% of the time.
As I said, it's simply Journalism 101 best-practices. Whenever they don't do it NewsBusters' job is to mock the bias mercilessly, in the hopes they'll finally one-day put 'did I identify the political party' on the checklist.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
Noel....I think you explained with your first line......
October 15, 2007 - 12:16 ET by JayTeeAs you said, The Chicago Locals know who is a Dem., they don't need any Identification in Illinois. The Carrer path for a Dem is Govenor, then Jail...I think at one time the State had two ex-governors in Jail at the same time.
It got so corrupt in Illinois, that a Republican Governor won for two terms a while back, and the Governor before him and after him were endighted and put in Jail. State Employees (Union members) Retire on the Job and do nothing. The state did an Early retirement buyout about 5 yrs back, cut 10,000 workers, and the State never missed a beat, nor did it miss the 10,000.
This is the land of Obama.......and if you want crooks in charge, elect Obama for President.
What good is a Free Press, if it is a False Press ? David Foote GoE
George Ryan R-Illinois
October 15, 2007 - 13:57 ET by CaringwhiteguyGeorge Ryan, the last REPUBLICAN governor of Illinois is either in jail or must report to serve his sentence sometime very soon. Please work on your facts.
same old same old ...
October 15, 2007 - 12:46 ET by tenthreeleaderLook at Larry Craig. I saw a Minneapolis Star Tribune story a few days after that story broke that mentioned a Republican party affiliation in the picture caption, the article's subheadline and three times in the first five paragraphs.
This is media bias. We need to keep a record.
Is the Pope Catholic?
October 15, 2007 - 14:01 ET by CaringwhiteguyFor the Chicago papers to put a party designation on Richie Daley would be the same as saying Pope Benedict XVI (Catholic-VC).