Today it's being reported that Louisiana State Senator Derrick Shepherd stands accused by the FBI of money laundering. The AP duly reported the messy story surrounding this charge, of course. Their story was long and exhaustive for an AP report. Only one tiny, little thing seems to have been forgotten by the AP. They seem to have forgotten to mention that Shepherd is a Democrat. I know... shocking, eh? This is just another in a long, long line of MSM reports -- and AP reports in particular -- where a report on criminal activity by an elected official seems to lack party identification... IF that criminal activity is perpetrated by a Democrat, of course.
The AP begins with:
State Sen. Derrick Shepherd helped a felon launder nearly $141,000 in bogus construction bond fees last year, keeping nearly half the money, an FBI agent said.
So, what was it that this State Senator did to assist this felon launder money?
According to an account of the hearing by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Smith testified that Shepherd, an attorney who often handles personal injury cases, wrote "settlement proceeds" on memo lines of checks to Moyo, but there is no evidence that he did any legal work for her. Smith said Moyo signed five checks totaling $140,686 - two bearing notes that they were for bond fees - to Shepherd's account. Shepherd kept about $65,000 of Moyo's money and returned the remaining amount, the agent testified.
Nice scam, eh? Now, this time another news source does mention the party of our erstwhile Senator Shepherd. The Times-Picayune didn't forget to mention Shepherd's Party affiliation, so, props to the TP. It is interesting, though, to note that calling a corrupt Democrat a Democrat didn't bother the local paper much. But the AP? Well, they have a "policy" ya see. They only mention party affiliation when it is "germane" to the story, I hear. And it all begs the question: when exactly WILL being a Democrat become "germane" to the AP's coverage of corruption in our public officials? (hat tip to Newsbuster Jeremy Burnham)
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Since they only use party
October 24, 2007 - 06:53 ET by motherbeltSince they only use party affiliation when it's "germane" it would be interesting for someone with Nexis/Lexis search capability to research when they use it and when they don't.
Of course, they would just say that in every Republican case, it was "germane" to the story.
(because showing Republicans as corrupt is what the story is all about, so that makes it relevant.)
I have been reading these
October 24, 2007 - 07:04 ET by Ruths husband BenI have been reading these entries in NB for some time (failure to note that an elected official is a Democrat when caught in corruption) and have come to the conclusion that this is not a case of bias in the mainstream media. I think it is just a case of "assume crooks are Dems unless told otherwise."
It's really news when a Republican is crooked.
"We just can't trust the American people to make those types of choices.... Government has to make those choices for people" -HRC
That is a very optimistic
October 24, 2007 - 07:11 ET by Warner Todd HustonThat is a very optimistic way of looking at their bias, Ben. But here is the thing... you are too clever by half. You give the MSM far too much credit for intelligence and subtlety.
I feel, on the other hand, that their ham handed bias makes them want the reader NOT to know what party a corrupt official is in when that official is a Democrat. But they LOVE to mention it when it is a Republican.
I still contend that the MSM
October 24, 2007 - 08:33 ET by Rastus03I still contend that the MSM sees no need to identify the political affiliation of black politicians in this country because they cannot imgaine them being anything other than a Democrat.
Black Republicans need not apply!
Maybe so Rastus
October 24, 2007 - 08:43 ET by Cool ArrowBut the times are changing.
It is my hope human beings of all races are getting tired of cameo appearances in the overall minstrel show.
Pressure the Dems to name a person of color to a cabinet post, and you get Joycelin Elders. Her appointment was nothing less than an assault on the sensibilities of all Americans.
Don't forget the lefty wacko
October 24, 2007 - 10:02 ET by ahusserDon't forget the lefty wacko Lani Ganier and the travesty of a state judge from philadelphia, massiah-jackson who was being considered for a lifetime appt as a Fed judge. Who thankfully were not appointed because of their unrelenting stupidity and moonbatism. Of course they were being appointed by the Clintons. I remember the insipid picks for various posts and the MSM accusing the Repubs that they were not filling the posts. The hand wringing continued even though every appointment was a wack job moonbat. I know of two Federal judgeships given to moonbats by Clintoon in the formerly very conservative Northern District of Virginia, Judge (I hate cops and whities) Lee and moonbat and dingbat supreme Judge DiDi Brinkema.
Last night
October 24, 2007 - 09:36 ET by mattmOn CBS there's a show about a hispanic mob family. (I don't know the name) The main character was somehow connected to a 'conservative' senator who got caught in a bathroom soliciting gay sex....
...hmmmm, I wonder if they'll slip in a cold-cash Jefferson reference...or Barney Frank, or the crook in this story...
If you can't see the bias in the MSM, you're blind. But you should still be able to hear it.
Where's the study?
October 24, 2007 - 09:59 ET by coffee260Newsbusters-MRC should conduct a study that compares stories written by the AP involving corruption of political figures. They should look at the stories done on Republican's as opposed to Democrats to see if there's any notable difference in their coverage. Look into the number of times they report the party affiliation in their reports for both parties. I've noticed a pattern emerging with the AP and something needs to be done about it. By drawing attention to this bias with a legitimate comparison maybe this practice of bias will be curtailed. Then again maybe not.