A Tale of Two 'Non-Payment' Reports

It must be hard for newspaper editors to pick and choose which candidates to report on in an election season when their endorsed candidates fall on the opposite side of issues that contradict the paper's endorsed claims. Case in point, given the choice of reporting about the numerous reports of Illinois not paying their obligations and that of a payment glitch concerning a leading Republican gubernatorial candidate which story do you think the Chicago Sun Times would choose?

If you picked the non-story hiding behind candidate R you would be correct.

This morning's edition of the Sun Times features a breathless story under the headline, "Brady ads pulled because TV stations weren't paid".

In an embarrassing campaign misstep, dozens of political commercials for GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady were yanked from the air Thursday because at least three Chicago television stations did not receive payment.

The story ran even though the payment glitch had been corrected as of Thursday evening and was very shortlived. One could consider this an accomplishment considering that Illinois has a record of not fixing such payment "glitches" when it comes to ensuring that state insured patients are not denied medical care because the state simply isn't paying doctors and health insurers for services rendered.

Thus you will likely not find stories like that of Ashley Wright of Carterville Illinois anywhere on the Sun Times site. Mrs. Wright's husband works for Southern Illinois University, a state run school with state provided insurance. Her family is being denied medical care because the state isn't paying it's bills; a recurring sort of non-payment story that is plaguing the state of Illinois yet not reported in the Chicago Sun Times.

Here's how that story plays out when actually reported on: Family Denied Medical Treatment Because of State's Debt

WILLIAMSON-- A Carterville mom says she was denied medical care for her children because the state isn't paying its bills.

As the Illinois budget crisis drags on, it's impacting more and more people.

Now, some doctors in southern Illinois are limiting services for patients employed by the state or is asking those patients to pay up front.

It is a vicious cycle. The state isn't paying the insurance companies, so insurance companies aren't paying doctors, and the doctors are forced to make changes some families don't like.

Ashley Wright of Carterville says one of the main reasons she and her husband decided to work for SIU was for the benefits.

Now it seems the most important perk - health insurance - is being compromised.

Not that the Sun Times has an obligation to publish each and every story concerning Illinois' inability to pay its bills. But then again, if we step back to October 7th and look at the Sun Times endorsement of incumbent Democratic gubernatorial candidate Pat Quinn you will see that they are endorsing Patt Quinn because of their belief that he will be the candidate most likely to preserve services (presumably like the ones being denied Ashley Wright):

One man lives in the real world, the other lives in an ideological box that shuts out real people and real pain.

One man has a workable plan for Illinois, the other has a sham of a plan that will never add up.

One man is committed to making Illinois a more pro-business state while at the same time preserving services for the most needy people among us -- the mentally ill, the elderly and schoolchildren.

The other wants to create a more pro-business climate, too, but disproportionately at the expense of those same powerless people.

In the Nov. 2 election for governor, the Sun-Times endorses that first man -- incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn.

Gag.

God forbid that a newspaper back up their endorsements with any sort of news that backs their statements, any sort of real news that is.

The Sun Times actually gave the gov their endorsement despite stories like the one above that stand in stark contrast to the reasoning the paper has for endorsing a Democrat incumbent in the first place. If one wanted they could find plenty of examples of how real non-payment stories are affecting the citizens of Illinois, but they had better not look for them in the Sun Times:

• While Illinois Goes Broke, State Union Employees Get 14% Raises
• Why are Illinois employees not being paid? 
• Illinois deep in debt, doesn’t pay bills
• Believe it! Illinois is flat-out broke

Thus another accomplishment for a newspaper that continues the status quo while endorsing the same.