Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D-Ill.) name has cropped up quite a few times in the ongoing trial of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) benefactor Tony Rezko. Yet in their latest coverage, both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times left out Blagojevich's party affiliation. The Sun-Times, however, did take note of the Republican party affiliation of another politico caught up in the maelstrom, William Cellini (see screencap at right, photos via AP/Sun-Times).
The caption for a photo montage accompanying the April 3 article "Levine: Blagojevich knew", reads, "Clockwise from left: Gov. Rod Blagojevich; Tony Rezko; Stuart Levine;Chicago businessman-turned-Hollywood producer Tom Rosenberg; longtime Illinois Republican Party power William Cellini."
Tribune staffers Bob Secter and Jeff Coen also covered the development in a story filed shortly after midnight Eastern time on April 3.
This isn't the first time Secter and Coen left out the (D) after Blagojevich's name. As NewsBusters contributor and MRC News Analysis intern Lyndsi Thomas noted on March 18:
As the ongoing Tony Rezko trial yields more news of corruption, once again the mainstream media aren't identifying the party affiliation of the Democratic perpetrators. This time, the culprit is the Chicago Tribune in an article regarding a witness testimony that Alderman Richard Mell, father-in-law of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, hoped to receive kickbacks from an insider deal at a state pension fund. The article goes on to describe this new information along with the details of the deal for which Mell hoped.
The Tribune also noted that this finding adds to the "Mell-Blagojevich relationship that has devolved to downright dysfunctional in recent years."
Yet despite running a thirty paragraph article over two pages, the Tribune failed to recognize either Mell or Blagojevich are Democrats.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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These guys are real jokers.
April 3, 2008 - 12:43 ET by NewsbusterbrownThese guys are real jokers.
Democrat is the default
April 3, 2008 - 14:23 ET by ASTIn Chicago, you just assume everybody is a Democrat, so the papers only need to indicate it when someone is not a Dem. Even the dead there are democrat voters.
Chic Trib
April 3, 2008 - 17:07 ET by MudhenGotta defend the Trib as they're been pretty hard on the Guv. Their last editorial against him was again pushing for a change in the Illinois constitution to allow us to recall him. The Dems will never allow it, but we need to keep pushing this idiot out. If he doesn't quit he'll probably be indited anyway.
If Obama doesn't win the presidency I expect him to be our next Gov.
It gets no more blatent than this.
April 3, 2008 - 17:56 ET by CortillaenIf ever there was an image exemplifying liberal bias in the media, this is it. The Democrat in the large photo (and focus of the story) goes unlaabeled, but the incidental Republican in the story is not only labeled but labeled as a major power in the party. As if that isn't bad enough, take a look at how the caption is laid out. Blagojevich, Rezko, and Levine get a total of two lines (discounting the "Clockwise from left:" part), but Rosenberg and Cellini get more than 4 lines dedicated to extraneous information. There was more than enough room to give party affiliations for everyone there, but it was spent on making sure readers know that Rosenberg is a "Chicago businessman-turned-Hollywood producer" and Cellini is a "longtime Illinois Republican power". <sarc>Nope, no reason for that at all.</sarc>
www.rhjunior.com Great comics with a hefty dose of Christian and anti-nutjob goodness.
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