Does the media treat Democrats and Republicans differently when stories of their various peccadillos reach the Press? Well, in actuality, the question is essentially a moot point. There are stories today on the NewsBusters front page testifying to said bias. However, in Yahoo! News' choice of front-page stories today, we can see yet another example of this bias. It seems that Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has been indicted on seven counts of making false statements. And where did Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan place the senator's political affiliation? in the very first paragraph, of course. According to the story,
Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, was indicted Tuesday on seven counts of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.
Of course, this appears to be insufficient for Jordan. She goes on to tar Stevens' fellow Alaskan representative with the same brush, writing,
The investigation has upended Alaska state politics and cast scrutiny on Stevens — who is running for re-election this year — and on his congressional colleague, Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who is also under investigation.
Hmmm. When Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana was caught with bushels of money stuffed in a freezer, I do not recall Jordan or anyone else writing about the negative prospects for Jefferson's fellow congressmen- some of whom were also under investigation. And I certainly do not recall that the Associated Press was particularly interested in following lobbyist Tony Rezko's money trail when it appeared to be getting close to Obama. I have no sympathy for Stevens. if he did what he is accused of, he deserves to pay the price. It is things like this that dampen American enthusiasm for politicians. However, I don't recall a similar hue and cry from the AP about serial defaulter Laura Richardson and her sweetheart deal, nor any interest in following the sweetheart deals for California Senator Dianne Feinstein's husband. If only the Associated Press was as industrious in following up cases like this as they are when the target has an 'R' after his or her name. but that of course would require both objectivity and professionalism- something the AP has proven time and again that they sadly lack. Cross-posted on StoneHeads.
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AP
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 13:56 ET by candanceI did a search about Robert Wexler's residence issues and found nothing from AP or Reuters about the story - only local press in and around Palm Beach.
So apparently bad news is only a national concern when it involves a Republican...even though Wexler is on Obama's campaign and is currently leading the charge to impeach Bush.
Nice to know how things work at the AP.
Oh and for an update on the Wexler issue - he's now promised to rent an apartment in Palm Beach. Not to ever actually live there, but to have a local address where he could, in theory, stay if he wanted. So a local family looking for an empty apartment just has to suck it up because Wexler's image is more important. He's keeping his chair in Congress, staying in Obama's camp, and watching with glee as the media forgets this little incident ever happened.
Remember Rick Santorum?
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:22 ET by trak65Wexler's "solution" seems analogous to Santorum's status -- a rental house in PA that he didn't use much -- which sparked a firestorm of negative press in 2006 and helped drive Santorum from office.
Media Blackout
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 13:58 ET by JDWWhere is the Edwards story?
About half-way through one will find, "But I wonder if you think there would be a double standard, if it were a Republican?
JDW
DAILY WAVE
Former Newark NJ mayor
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 14:04 ET by jwm45Former Newark NJ mayor Sharpe James was just sentenced to 27 months in jail for corruption - first AP dispatches are without any mention of political party - what a shock!
That's just what I was going
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:48 ET by goldboughThat's just what I was going to write. If you look at Google news top stories now (3:45pm CDT) you'll see that Ted Stevens is one of 18 Republicans running this year and you have no idea if Sharpe James is R or D. I figured he was Dem since it wasn't mentioned, but checked wikipedia to make sure.
Bwahahahaha....
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 17:25 ET by ontheright...that was too funny - had to go and get a roll of paperr towels to wipe off my monitor.
Thanks for the gutteral laugh. It was much needed in this time of economic recession and all...
Richard perhaps you are
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 14:25 ET by Dan The Man 2Richard perhaps you are overreacting and this is not as bad as you make it out to be. If there were any substance to it wouldnt we be hearing about a problem like this on the news? So since we are not heariong about this "problem" we can safely say there is no problem.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
Don't forget Sens. Dodd and Conrad (D-Countrywide)
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 14:46 ET by trak65From a June 17 AP story:
The Countrywide loan officer said on CNBC a couple of weeks ago that he explained the special treatment that Dodd was getting during the application process and that it was worth $75,000 over the life of the loan.
To be fair, party affiliations were noted (but not in the first sentence). But where's the outrage over these non-trivial gifts to democrats?
Damn!
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:00 ET by richflanjI just submitted this a story tip, only to find it already posted here.
The Reuters story is worse. The second WORD in the article is Republican, and (just to make sure) it mentions the Republican party three other times in the article.
Any bet takers as to whether the DEMOCRAT party would have been mentioned once, if that had been the case?
By David Voreacos
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:19 ET by athoughtor2By David Voreacos
July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Sharpe James, the former mayor of
Newark, New Jersey, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and
fined $100,000 for illegally steering city-owned property to a
former mistress.
this is the opening paragraph on bloomberg....no dem mentioned....the word democrat was ommited from the entire article.
I refer you to a thread from above about Stevens for comparison That article was on bloomberg as well.
no dem mentioned....the word
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:46 ET by Dan The Man 2no dem mentioned....the word democrat was ommited from the entire article. Duh because there are no Republicans in NJ. LOL
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
good one.....we have a
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 16:03 ET by athoughtor2good one.....we have a few....key word is few
Let's see...where to
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:40 ET by bigtimerLet's see...where to start...first thing that came to my mind as far as all of the msm in any venue was REPUBLICAN would be mentioned numerous times, whether print or airwaves...which it has been so far...nothing new here is there... I watched the announcement from the Justice Dept. listened to all...I listened to Harry Reid and his presser in the Senate about the problems he is having not being able to go forward with his Speculation bill, and a few questions were asked about Stevens..., I listened to the phone calls from C-SPAN after the announcement and presser from the JD... Yeah I listened to all of it.
Just lovely...
Before I go further...if Stevens is guilty...he will have to pay, as it should be.
Now lets see...hypocrisy/bias knows no bounds...
Let me mention a few names here...forget about the Clintons...as far as that goes it is a given...they can get away with murder...and that is A-okay....and throw in the Kennedy family too...that is a given...
Now let just see how this started...from what I understand, this is from the Senate Ethic committee disclosure forms...ok, great, wonderful and dandy...this was started in 04 from my understanding...who I wonder reported, looked into, what reason did they have to give this information out and how would they know what was disclosed and not as far as being legal ect or non-reported...this was for false statements...7 counts...gifts, but no Quid Pro Quo...hmmmm...okay we shall see what happens...
This is from being involved with Veco in Ak...an oil related Co. I worked for them myself in Ak. Bill Allen is supposedly singing like a bird working with the govt. to reduce his sentence ect...I have also heard this includes some kind of lobbying to do with his son ect...
Okay...
This has to do with Veco doing favors for his home in Girdwood which is right near Turnigan Arm...not a hugely populated place at all...(or wasn't when I was there...it is near Anchorage...)
Ethics Committee information in the Senate....
WHEN, I mean WHEN are the republicans going to start demanding that the same information come out or looked into about Harry Reid and sons with his gifts and Land deals, Boxer and Son on land deals regarding Indian Casinos in Ca./Nevada, Feinstein and husband, Conrad and Dodd...Contrywide Sweet Deals...The Torch...zilch happened to him and his corruption, Mendendez...ZILCH happened to him with all his filthy dealing in NJ....Schumer for using his underlings for digging thought Michael Steele's trash ect...and Schumers filthy crap with Indy Mac....
This is payback for OIL..this is payback...I hope Cantwell is happy...Stevens was so furious after the vote for ANWR by missing it by one vote in the Senate thanks to McCain working with her...and other RINOs, the usual suspects...that Stevens told Cantwell she would pay for this...it does make one wonder what all was going on behind the scenes, there are plenty of behind the scenes left-overs in the JD from the Clinton administration...I would love to know the truth...
Last note on all of this...Reid had a presser I listened to...and the gasping gushing reporters asked him how he felt about all of this...he said, I have worked with Sen. Stevens since I have been here (I am paraphrasing here )...I have served with him my entire career, BUT I believe in the American Justice System, now it's up to the republicans what they do with him...then referred to Craig...of course on of the wonderful reporters said is this more of their Culture of Corruption....
Am I furious with their BS....
HELL YES!
I am furious with their HYPOCRISY...Hell YES!
Am I furious with the cover-up with their working arm in arm together with the dem party and their agenda to destroy and cover up, omit and obfuscate for the filthy leftist party....
Hell Yes!
The repubs had better fight back...
Btw...speaking of the JD...I have waited years for an indictment against WaPO, NYTs and authors/editors for treason, releasing classified info. during a time of war, that put all of us and our military in jeopardy.
I am MAD...and I'm not taking it anymore.
Sen. Stevens has been screwed on ANWR for over thirty years, he has been screwed and promised things regarding oil with hand-shakes before going out of sessions from the dems, he has been screwed by Carter, he has been screwed by some RINOs on our own side of the aisle...he has been involved in all of this since before Alaska's statehood...this breaks my heart.
That is my rant...I am so done...I wished people could of heard his floor speeches regarding the histroy of all of this...granted, he isn't/wasn't the best speaker, but he made you listen...well, me anyway.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Sarc on
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:49 ET by acumenThis apparent demedia bias is easily explained away as Stevens' failure to hunker down at a proper media declared safety zone such as the Beverly Hills Hotel basement bathroom.
/sarc off
Take Heart!
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 23:27 ET by SvenTake heart my good friends, becuase this type of "objectivity" that our print media like Reuters and AP continually practice is slowly killing them financialy.
I say, "keep it up guys." This will only solidify your demise! By-the-way, how many "journalists" and staffers did you have to lay-off this week?
AP and Reuters, you have the freedom to be biased, and we have the freedom to not read your stories.
Boy, the free market is a bit--!