Times-Picayune Buries Dartez Defeat - No Mention of 'Buckwheat' Slur

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On Saturday, State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez (D-La.) lost her re-election bid to Republican challenger Joe Harrison in a heated and controversial run-off. Yet the largest newspaper in Louisiana, The Times-Picayune (TP), chose to bury it as an afterthought in its coverage of the statewide election results. The Times-Picayune online edition, NOLA.com, placed this paragraph at the end of its story.

The only two incumbent lawmakers to lose in either chamber were Democrats. Chris Hazel dispatched Rep. Rick Farrar of Pineville in the 27th District primary. Challenger Joe Harrison topped Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez of Morgan City to claim the 51st District seat in the runoff.

The TP made no mention of the 'Buckwheat' racial slur or the other controversies which surrounded this incumbent Democrat. Why is that?

Fellow NewsBuster Richard Newcomb first reported this story and told of the failure of major news outlets to mention that Dartez was a Democrat.

Last week, State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez (D-La.) made a particularly controversial closing comment to a former civil rights worker. Dartez, in ending a phone call with Hazel Boykin, said "Talk to you later, Buckwheat." Hazel Boykin is the mother of Jerome Boykin, president of the Terrebonne Parish NAACP chapter.

Mrs. Boykin and her son were offended by the racial slur and her son called for the defeat of Dartez in the upcoming run-off election. Despite support from local black clergy and other Democrats, Boykin's demands to remove Dartez from office appealed to voters and she was defeated.

The media loves a story about racial controversy, particularly in southern states. For example, the "Jena 6" case, built around a simple assault charge in a small town - in Louisiana no less - was considered newsworthy. So why was there no media coverage of this political defeat, mostly due to the racial slur controversy, other than this brief piece on the USAToday blog? Where was the leading story in the MSM?

Could the MSM have a double standard for people caught in these situations? Just ask Don Imus or Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

Crossposted on Conservative Belle.