AP's Nedra Pickler Has Bigfoot in Mouth in Corsi Controversy

The back-and-forth over Jerome Corsi's book, "The Obama Nation," has been heated, largely unfair to the author, and predictably marred by attacks from allegedly "objective" journalists as well as Democratic mouthpieces (but I repeat myself). Blatant examples of media bias have been noted by several NewsBusters posters, including Tim Graham (here, here, and here), Geoff Dickens, Mark Finkelstein, and Clay Waters.

But that doesn't mean there haven't been moments of humor. A delicious one comes at the expense of the Associated Press's Nedra Pickler.

In her Thursday hit piece on Corsi's book, here is how Pickler described the online publication where Corsi writes a periodic column:

Corsi writes for World Net Daily, a conservative Web site whose lead headline Thursday was "Astonishing photo claims: Dead Bigfoot stored on ice."

(August 17 update: Joe Farah, Editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily, has informed NewsBusters and myself that Corsi "is a full-time senior staff writer ..... and has been for several years." I regret if the previous characterization gave an incomplete impression of Corsi's role there, which was not intended.)

Pickler's purpose, of course was to ridicule the web site, properly identified as WorldNetDaily (without spaces between the words), by comparing it to tabloid publications like the National Enquirer -- even though one of those terrible tabloids has been scooping AP and other traditional media on the John Edwards/Rielle Hunter story for months -- and to attempt to dent Corsi's fundamental credibility.

After all, the self-described and oh-so-dignified "Essential Global News Network" would never-never-never stoop so low as to do a story about Bigfoot.

Oh Nedra? Nedra? Over here:

Georgia men claim hairy, frozen corpse is Bigfoot
By JUANITA COUSINS
Associated Press Writer

A hairy corpse crammed in a Georgia freezer is Bigfoot, say two men who have been tracking the legendary creature, when they aren't busy looking for leprechauns and the Loch Ness monster.

Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer say they stumbled across the corpse in the woods of north Georgia, across the country from the remote regions of the Northwest where people usually claim to see the man-ape.

Still, the Georgia men say DNA will prove once and for all that the frozen creature is Sasquatch. They plan to present DNA test results and photographs during a news conference Friday in Palo Alto, Calif.

Skeptics say it's just another Bigfoot hoax.

The AP's roughly 595-word story is longer than WorldNetDaily's, which weighs in at about 530, but it also came two days later. The "Essential Global News Network," scooped on the Bigfoot story. Oh, the indignity.

Someone should ask Nedra Pickler what her favorite condiments are when eating crow (pickles, perhaps?). Associated Press Writer Christopher Wills, who also contributed to Pickler's report, should at least have to endure a side order.

To avoid further embarrassments, the AP needs to marshal its resources, and quickly. WorldNetDaily has done a Bigfoot follow-up ("Bigfoot hunters claim others of species live").

(Disclosure: In case it's noted by anyone -- I'm not particularly fond of WorldNetDaily, as noted here and here, but the matter described at those posts is unrelated to the the points made here.)

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.