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Louis Magazzu

AP Has No Problem Tagging Resigned N.J. Lawmaker as a Republican Multiple Times in Racial Dispute -- Over His Wife's Email

By Tom Blumer | August 24, 2011 | 22:48

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Even by the non-standards of the Associated Press, its treatment of the resignation in New Jersey of a state Assembly member is remarkable. 

Twice in the space of the wire service's headline and reporter Angela Delli Santi's first three words, Pat Delany was tagged as a Republican, followed during the first two paragraphs by two descriptions of Republican Party reaction (bolds are mine):

Name That Party: Comparing NYDN's and AP's Coverage of 'Louis the Lewd' Magazzu's N.J. Resignation

By Tom Blumer | August 04, 2011 | 15:55

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Louis Magazzu, whom I shall nickname "Louis the Lewd," was a Democratic County Freeholder in Cumberland County, New Jersey. A "freeholder" is the Garden State equivalent of a county commissioner.

His position is in the past tense because Louis the Lewd resigned on Tuesday after nude pictures of himself sent to a woman with whom he had online correspondence for several years were published.

Let's compare how the Aliyah Shahid at the New York Daily News and Beth DeFalco at the Associated Press covered Magazzu's resignation. First, from the Daily News, which isn't exactly considered strongly conservative or particularly anti-Democrat: