(Also, see Matthew Balan's NB post on CNN.com's Name That Party Blagojevich whiff, and related posts by Mark Finkelstein and Warner Todd Huston.)
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested today. The Associated Press's Mike Robinson actually identified "Blago's" party in the third paragraph of his 10:27 a.m. report (link is dynamic; cited report is also here for future reference; underlying news HTs to an e-mailer):
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.
A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti.
Pass the smelling salts -- USA Today's Judy Keen began her story by identifying Blago as a Dem in the first word of the first sentence. And Reuters's 10:38 a.m. report (probably dynamic) identifies him as a Dem at the beginning of its second paragraph.
Other news services' initial reports have been more circumspect about Blago's party membership:
- This MSNBC First Read report doesn't have Blago's status as a Democrat in its story, but did "tag" it.
- The UPI's 10:12 a.m. story has no party ID.
- Finally, in what would seem to be a very odd twist, a pretty long story at Fox News does not identify Blago's party anywhere in the story.
All in all, the overall performance of the press thus far would have to be given a "C" or "C+," which compares pretty favorably to the typical D-/F+ performance usually seen when Democratic politicians get into trouble. (Update: Commenters are finding other examples where Blago's party ID is not present.)
A more typical example can be found in the arrest and resignation of Cleveland, Ohio councilman Robert J. White III over a bribery charge. The Cleveland Plain Dealer and other area news outlets earned outright "F's" for totally failing to identify White as a Democrat.
The scope of the alleged crimes Illinois Governor Blagojevich stands accused of is, as U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald stated, "truly staggering." Go to the links for more.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
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Obama's Governor
December 9, 2008 - 11:38 ET by allanfWhat an embarassment for President Elect Obama. The Governor who will appoint his replacement is accused of auctioning off the seat. Under the law, he still can appoint the replacement despite the charges.
I don't think it's
December 9, 2008 - 11:44 ET by MichelleCI don't think it's possible for Obama to be embarrassed. The man has no shame.
Republicans believe every day is the 4th of July. Democrats believe every day is April 15th ~ Ronald Reagan
I did not have sexual relations with...
December 9, 2008 - 16:11 ET by JDWBlagogate ain't going nowhere.
JDW
DAILY WAVE
you can only surmise that this guy is a democrat if
December 9, 2008 - 11:35 ET by pmohbuckyou read the entire article, but read between the lines. i actually had to google the guy in order to confirm my suspicion. yet the media still gives us its weekly reference of larry craig ... and they never omit his party ... the "scarlet R" ... or in this case, maybe a "pink R".
Reading between the lines.
December 9, 2008 - 15:31 ET by ahusserI posted yesterday that to get the news from the MSM we will have to 'read between the lines' just like the Russians had to in the good old days of the USSR. Lucky for our side the internet spreads the word faster than the spin and bias meisters can weave their 'tales'. But unlucky for our side the spin is usually believed by most.
Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster
I caught the "breaking
December 9, 2008 - 11:51 ET by motherbeltI caught the "breaking news" on MSNBC just before I went out a while ago, and there was no mention of his party in the entire piece.
So I did Google search of "Blagojevich indictment" because I truly didn't know, and not a single one of the stories about him, even the earlier investigation (I had time to go through 5 or 6 links before I left) mentioned that he is a Democrat. I sort of figured it, because a couple of them mentioned Rezco.
I finally came upon one that mentioned it (it was actually a story about the Cellini indictment) in about the 10th paragraph, thus:
Still, the connections between Blagojevich and Cellini run deeper than
most people would think for the first Democratic governor in a
quarter-century and a longtime GOP insider who is the treasurer of his
county's Republican Party.
Of course, there's the equivalent Republican, because, you know, both sides are guilty.
I agree that these outlets
December 9, 2008 - 11:59 ET by ksennishI agree that these outlets should be noting his party affiliation. But come on everyone.
Its Illinois.
Its a high ranking political position.
Its a Democrat.
Governor Blow Dry
December 9, 2008 - 12:24 ET by GeneralAlWelcome to the state that sent Honest Abe to the White House and a slew of governors to the Big House! Finally, the long arm of the law catches up to a Democrat! Maybe we should build a special prison for Illinois Governors. I hope the Republicans keep this in front of the voters for the next four years! It just goes to show you that if you give them enough rope they'll hang themselves!
We already have a place
December 9, 2008 - 12:30 ET by Clear thinkerWe already have a place suitable to put these bums. It's called Gitmo!
Giovanni’s “Smelly Turd Award” Winner
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
→ Blago to sell out Jesse Jackson Jr?
December 9, 2008 - 14:12 ET by Cool ArrowGiven that Jesse Jackson Junior was being considered as a frontrunner for the vacated Senate Seat, does anyone think Blago's health might fade within the next few days?
If I'm Blago, I'm very afraid.