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| Contemplating the Switch |
The Agence-France Presse and Yahoo! have teamed up to finally do what's right.
Only they do it so VERY wrong.
Eliot Spitzer (R) holds a news conference in New York City with his wife Silda by his side
This bit of Press horrendousness, after the serial Spitzer dis-affliation leading up to it, leads to one of but two possible conclusions.
Either the Media have become excruciatingly bad at their job, or they have become excruciatingly bad at hiding their bias.
Or both. The choice, Gentle Readers, is yours.
You are the Man, Trevor. Many thanks.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Methinks they might have
March 13, 2008 - 16:35 ET by Roger the ShrubberMethinks they might have been using (R) as in the person on the right in the photo?
Just putting that out there...
Because of ALL those women out there ...
March 13, 2008 - 16:40 ET by Seton MotleyBecause of all the women out there named "Eliot".
And all the men named "Silda" -- men who are people's wives.
Hardly, Shrub.
Seton Motley
Director of Communications
Media Research Center
Lest we forget
March 13, 2008 - 17:04 ET by ArcherBAnd all the Eliot-named women who are governor of NY who spend $5000/hr for prostitutes. Yeah, I can see how it could be confusing who is who without a left/right designation.
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
The hot blonde on "Scrubs"
March 13, 2008 - 18:51 ET by Roger the ShrubberThe hot blonde on "Scrubs" is named Eliot, btw.
That being said, I agree wiith the comment that a lower-case "r" is usually used.
I was just throwing out a rational explanation. If other sources are now doing the same thing, that is very sad.
My cover was almost blown. I better get back to Thinkprogress for debriefing.... :p
I think they usually spell
March 13, 2008 - 16:40 ET by dvdaughtryI think they usually spell that out.
Roger
March 13, 2008 - 16:41 ET by candanceThat's the explanation they plan on using. They "paraphrased" the guy on the right by condensing it into (R) and if someone gets the wrong idea about him being a Republican, oh well.
Kinda stupid though. I mean, there are only two people in the photo and only men are named Eliot so you'd think it would be obvious....
candance, don't be
March 13, 2008 - 16:58 ET by motherbeltcandance, don't be surprised if they explain it that way.
You know, like when they refer to a Democrat Congressman as Rep. (meaning Representative) John Doe, and if people think that abbreviation stands for Republican, well, it's not their fault.
Like Billy Crystal
March 13, 2008 - 17:05 ET by FastEdgood swing, but a miss. On the other hand, you could be demolib speech writer! - nice spin!
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
It was nice to see the
March 13, 2008 - 19:28 ET by Roger the ShrubberIt was nice to see the Pirates be able to strike out SOMEBODY....
(r) or (l) or (c)
March 13, 2008 - 18:08 ET by coffee260Aren’t location designations usually in lower case? (r) or (l) or (c)
Stylebook
March 13, 2008 - 18:59 ET by nkviking75I agree with Roger. R in this case is for Right. Just some moronic journalist, or caption writer, mechanically applying the stylebook rules rather than engaging his/her brain. When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Rog, that would work if
March 13, 2008 - 19:03 ET by balboaRog, that would work if there was another man in the photo, or if the caption didn't indicate that Eliot was standing with his wife.
Hey, I didn't say it wasn't
March 13, 2008 - 19:27 ET by Roger the ShrubberHey, I didn't say it wasn't stoopid... :p
Aren't you supposed to be meeting me at Thinkprogress for our weekly debriefing?
Must...resist...messages
March 13, 2008 - 19:32 ET by balboaMust...resist...messages from our dark overlords...
I think they were going off past articles
March 13, 2008 - 19:32 ET by kgI think they were going off past articles. No articles mentioned the "D" word so they guessed. And being the unbiased media they are, they assumed it had to be an "R".
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
C'mon, admit it Seton.
March 13, 2008 - 16:38 ET by tracheostomyC'mon, admit it Seton. You were really waiting for something like this to happen. >;)
-PJ
"Trake: Your lofty convictions are another blemish on the rump of congregational sectarianism." -Tumbler 5/15/07
Me thinks the media
March 13, 2008 - 16:40 ET by charlietexasMe thinks the media stinks..........
When reporters say they
March 13, 2008 - 16:41 ET by BenderWhen reporters say they can't understand why their public perception is so low, just point them toward this story.
Not only did most of the major media organizations refuse to apply a party label to disgraced govenor of New York, now they deliberately applied a false party designation to Spitzer.
It was either done intentionally or through gross journalistic malpractice through a failure to basic fact check.
Here is another link where
March 13, 2008 - 16:55 ET by BenderHere is another link where the (R) label is used with Spitzer.
" New York Governor Eliot Spitzer , (R)
and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson attend a state dinner honoring
the nation's governors at the White House in Washington in this
February 24, 2008 file photo. Spitzer has informed his most senior
administration officials that he has been involved in a prostitution
ring, the New York Times reported on its website March 10, 2008. "
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:HB7JGLZpJaEJ:www.daylife.com/photo/07Krecr9Kfa9o+%22spitzer+(r)%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us
Since 12:48?
March 13, 2008 - 16:46 ET by jpatchThat is un-freakin-believable. It's been on there since 12:48 P.M. this afternoon. No one at Yahoo has noticed that GLARING error in 4 hours?
Well, I guess I can't blame them. It's just another Republican scandal...involving only Democrats.
How does the saying go? "The more things change, the more they...?"
Obvious, intentional....
March 13, 2008 - 16:48 ET by bigtimerObvious, intentional.... and despicable.
When are people going to be held accountable and fired.
Yeah, I know when pigs fly.
Seton, you left out a third
March 13, 2008 - 16:56 ET by motherbeltSeton, you left out a third possibility: the Freudian slip....
Don't you think they really really want him to be a Republican?
Here is a contact form for
March 13, 2008 - 17:00 ET by dscottHere is a contact form for AFP: http://www.afp.com/english/afp/?pid=contact
Lord Sidious / Darth Vader 2008 Long Live the Empire! Come to the Dark Side, it is your Destiny.
This is not new..."(R)epresentative What's-his-name"
March 13, 2008 - 17:02 ET by ZayneThis is not new. I've see the media label Dems as (R) before. When they do this they always repeatedly refer the democrat as "Representative What's-his-name". They do it all the time with congress members.
Zayne, when they do that,
March 13, 2008 - 17:24 ET by motherbeltZayne, if they use the "R" with a name it's usually after. When they are signifying Representative, it's usually not "R" it's "Rep." John Doe." And as I mentioned above, they do it a lot for Democrats, I believe, in the hope that people will think it stands for "Republican" if it's a scandal.
A question about (D)
March 13, 2008 - 17:16 ET by ThisnThatNow, how many times has Spitzer (D) been printed prior to this sex scandal? Has the MSM always left off (D) for Spitzer, or has it only been sense he's been caught?
Anyone have an answer?
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
This kind of question
March 13, 2008 - 17:26 ET by sarcasmoAnd it's a good one, is why I advocate a study where the MRC cooperates with other groups. It's possible to research this stuff, a good record certainly exists if ground rules could be set up for "what counts" beforehand. If the media isn't going to widely adopt conventions regarding party identification, they're truly inviting such a study.
JMR
A corruption-story the TV media will-not cover.
I think we've clearly
March 13, 2008 - 17:32 ET by ThisnThatI think we've clearly established a difference in how the MSM treates Dims and Repubs when there is bad news. But it would be interesting to know how they are each treated when there is good news, or even neutral every-day news.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
Kinda Sorta
March 13, 2008 - 17:37 ET by blackngoldfanThey do identify him as a Democrat, but not until the last sentence. The big, fat (R) is the eyecatcher. The average reader would assume he is indeed Republican.
Quote from the headline link, paragraph next to the photo - emphasis added:
"New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (R) holds a news conference in New York City with his wife Silda by his side, on March 10. Spitzer came under mounting pressure to resign Tuesday, a day after the Democrat crusader once known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" was linked to a prostitution ring."
I agree it's established
March 13, 2008 - 17:46 ET by sarcasmoThe main purpose of the study would be to have something to throw in Jer's face when the obvious is denied. ;) But it would also be useful to see numbers from different media outlets in a context of variables like how soon it's mentioned if/when party designation is let slip. And I totally agree that it would be interesting/best if there were some sort of neutral story baseline data, too, but that ideal would expand the study beyond scandals and force the intern-slaves to define "neutral."
JMR
A corruption-story the TV media will-not cover.
See Rich Noyes' new post at
March 13, 2008 - 19:47 ET by motherbeltSee Rich Noyes' new post at the top of Newsbusters...Brent Baker has apparently done some research. Vitter and Craig were apparently identified as Republicans in 100% of their stories.
Please, sarc...my face
March 13, 2008 - 21:27 ET by JerPlease, sarc...my face can't take anything more thrown at it. I'm already having to eat my meals through a straw.
Jer
TnT, this is by no means
March 13, 2008 - 17:45 ET by motherbeltTnT, this is by no means scientific (and I didn't save the links, so you'll have to trust me) but a Google search of his name turned up over 3 million hits.
Most of the ones I saw in the first 50 pages were about this story. However, I did find 3 stories from the past year about a budget, and his visiting a college, and something else, and in none of them was he identified as a Democrat.
So maybe it's a matter of not labelling Governors, as opposed to Congressmen and Senators, since they're not in a "group" like the legislators.
Maybe some of us are making too much of this.
MB,
March 13, 2008 - 18:21 ET by ThisnThatI did my own short search of NYT archives, looking for the word "Spitzer". Got 5,283 results. Decided to look at 10 of them (numbers 91 thru 100, spanning Oct 2007 to 28 Feb 2008). In all cases, Spitzer's party affiliation is not explicitly mentioned. Several of these NYT articles were quite critical of Spitzer; others were neutral.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
TnT, I thought it would be
March 13, 2008 - 18:57 ET by motherbeltTnT, I thought it would be less likely that a NY paper would identify his party (I don't know why, it just seemed that way) so I went with Google. I don't remember where the stories I mentioned came from , but I'm pretty sure they weren't NY.
MB,
March 13, 2008 - 19:19 ET by ThisnThatContinuing my search, I pulled the first 10 most recent NYT articles about McCain. The NYT labeled him a Republican in 8 of those 10 articles. As a side note, and as I've predicted before, two of these 10 articles were about his age and his past skin cancer. Just letting everyone know about the issues of a Republican candidate, I guess.
I also pulled the most recent 10 articles about Hillary. She was labeled as a Dim in only 4 ot the 10. Not one of them mentioned her baggage even though the articles weren't always necessarily positive; although two of them were comments on Ferraro. BTW, whenever Ferraro was mentioned, she was tagged as "the 1984 vice-presidential candidate".
My non-scientific study is not conclusive, except to note that Republicans are nearly always identified, and Dims not. I smell a trend here.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
The other thing they like to
March 13, 2008 - 19:55 ET by motherbeltThe other thing they like to do is bring in the whole party when it's a Republican...how will this affec the party...the Republican party trying to deal....etc. For Democrats, it's usually kept personal and local. The one I love best though, it when there's a Democrat caught in a scandal, and they dredge up a Republican who had a similar scandal, and claim it's a "bipartisan" problem.
Thanks, motherbelt...that
March 13, 2008 - 21:39 ET by JerThanks, motherbelt...that [the distinction between governors and national-level legislators] is something I had intuitively considered a possibility, but hadn't researched very thoroughly.
I would like to see [and sarc has mentioned this before] a truly exhaustive, objective study of the entire party ID issue, so that, if I'm proven wrong, I could shut up about it.
Jer
Minor Correction
March 13, 2008 - 17:37 ET by Gothampc"halting our respitory activity in anticipation of the Jurassic Press actually ascribing Party affiliation to the recently resigned Big Apple Governor"
Actually, he's governor of the Empire State. The Big Apple is only used in reference to New York City. Of course, he is from NYC, but he is not governor of it.
You Didin't Get the Memo
March 13, 2008 - 17:42 ET by allanfYou guys didn't get the memo. Spitzer switched parties to Republican before he resigned. Then he switched back.
Eliot Spitzer (R)
March 13, 2008 - 17:54 ET by Gary HallI'd noted to my lovely wife the other day that all the leftists who continue to insist that that MSM is all right wing, would soon enough come to believe that Spitzer was a Republican; after all, does it not make sense that the right wing media would not want to draw attention to their own by flashing the label (R) out there.
Leaving it off, assists the liberals in the fine art of revisionism. Looks like the foreigers bought right into the game.
It has to mean Rat or
March 13, 2008 - 18:06 ET by Dan The Man 2It has to mean Rat or Reprobate.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
Still Up
March 13, 2008 - 18:25 ET by Intellectual HonestyIt's been almost two hours since you posted this article and almost six hours since AFP posted the photo and (R) caption.
something odd
March 13, 2008 - 18:53 ET by goldboughI just checked it at 5:50pm CDT and it's still there. Someone earlier mentioned that it might be referring to the person on the right, but if you don't know who that is by now, you're from outer space. I know they always include the state with an R or D, but obviously no state is listed there. What's going on?
Even I can hardly believe THIS...
March 13, 2008 - 19:19 ET by habbyguyI did another google search. Surely this is an isolated incident, thought I (naively).
Google'd "Spitzer (D)" and got only 36,500 hits
Google'd "Spitzer (R)" and got 22,600 hits!!!
So apparently on the very few times the left-leaning media DOES attach a label to a miscreant polititian, they get it wrong 40% of the time???
Yeah, that's not exactly an
March 13, 2008 - 19:31 ET by balboaYeah, that's not exactly an accurate survey of such instances.
I agree, but the problem is...
March 14, 2008 - 02:58 ET by sarcasmoWhat sort of survey would you call accurate? People like me might say "Rich Noyes and Brent Baker seem to have a point in this case," but there's always something that seems to prevent a complete "win" in what seems to me like a very objectively obvious situation. My latest wild theory, and I could be wrong, is that a multi-group study where Media Matters and the MRC and perhaps others like AIM are gathering & examining the same data on this issue would be more-likely to convince people like you & Jer that the news media might have a party label bias issue. I can understand folks on the left wanting a group they trust to be looking over the conservatives' shoulders in this case. The bonus of such a study is that it's likely that hilarious Carville-Matalin romances will develop between the opposing interns, as hormones slowly-but-inevitably overcome politics.
JMR
A corruption-story the TV media will-not cover.
What sort of survey would
March 14, 2008 - 10:36 ET by balboaWhat sort of survey would you call accurate?
Not one that's done in 5 seconds on Google, unless that person checks each link individually for the veracity of their claims.
Well...
March 13, 2008 - 19:54 ET by Tom1969ca7.53 EDT (0053 GMT). Still there.
~~~
I admire FDR for not insisting on getting the approval of France and Germany before going to war.
--Anne Coulter
Maybe the (R) stood for
March 13, 2008 - 20:56 ET by RickTaLifeMaybe the (R) stood for "Reprobate." :-P
Contacted Them
March 13, 2008 - 21:01 ET by Repeal 16-17I contacted the geniuses at Yahoo UK (where that article appears) and informed them of their error.* I called on them to replace the "(D)" with an "(R)". Now they can't claim that nobody pointed out the error to them.
*I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt when I say "error".
in the past i have questioned the sensativity of situations
March 13, 2008 - 21:43 ET by lunaticcringeradiothere have been instances in the past regarding how the media, particularly the entertainment media, should just be ignored as to their intentions or outcome. this time i fully believe yahoo ireland news intentionally left this r after his name on purpose to slant the perception of the situation. the simple fact is he is not a representative he's a govenor not a state rep, a mistake not easy to explain away as an accident, which is something i've seen the media mislead in the past to obscure a politicians candidate by only calling them a representative instead of identify party affiliation. for them to place a r and not identify a person as a democrat sounds very very suspicious as being intentionally misleading.
i'm calling shinnaniggans. this was intentional. the motives for the media to push public opinion is too obvious.
lunaticcringeradio
they claim to have "fixed" this
March 14, 2008 - 10:18 ET by BadgermikeHere is the response I got from APF.
Dear reader,
Thank you for your interest.
Accuracy is our absolute priority and we are grateful to you for
pointing out the mistake on this photo caption. The error has been corrected
on our service though you may still find a few instances of it on
client Internet sites to which we have no immediate access.
Regards, David Williams, deputy editor
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Envoyé : vendredi 14 mars 2008 14:30
À : contact-photos-english
Objet : [ContactForm-en] Contact photo department
Below is a demand for information received via the afp web site
Type of request: Contact photo department
Name: Mike Field
Company/ Organization:
Company description:
Company size:
Job title or function:
Department:
City:
Zip/ postal code:
Country: United States
Telephone:
E-mail address:
Message: Wondering why DEMOCRAT Eliot Spitzer is labeled (R) in this
picture?
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080312/img/ppl-us-politics-newyork-gov-1-4e48f9b2ad981.html
and in the description. "AFP - Wednesday, March 12 12:48 pm
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (R) holds a news conference in New York
City with his wife Silda by his side, on March 10. Spitzer came under
mounting pressure to resign Tuesday, a day after the Democrat crusader
once known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" was linked to a prostitution
ring."
Would love a personal response.
Oh please.
March 14, 2008 - 17:02 ET by cheefloI don't think anyone in the audience needs to be informed that Eliot Spitzer is the individual on the right, whether the woman on the left is identified as his wife or not. Clearly they are characterizing him as a Republican, not identifying his relative position in the photo.
You can only grant the benefit of the doubt when you believe that the other is acting in good faith.