A Tale of Two Parties for the AP (Again)

February 16th, 2008 9:49 AM

Remember the former governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey? What political party did he belong to? Can't remember? Well, don't rely on the Associated Press to assist you in its article yesterday about him and his continuing marital woes:

They've bickered over whether she knew he was gay, whose tell-all book would sell better, whether a poster of a nude man hanging over his new lover's bed had to come down before she'd allow their 6-year-old to visit.

Divorce has been exceptionally bitter for former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey. Unless they can resolve the custody and money issues that have arisen since their acrimonious parting, the state's estranged former first couple is heading for a May trial.

The pair split three months after he came out on live television, saying he had a gay affair with an ex-staffer and that he would resign. On Friday, they were in court for the umpteenth round in their drawn-out divorce proceeding, this time to fight about McGreevey's desire to hire outside experts to perform evaluations that could bolster his demand for shared custody.

In the entire fifteen paragraph story, McGreevey's party affiliation -- Democrat -- is never mentioned. But, we learn, the former governor is studying to become an Episcopal priest!

On the other hand, the AP doesn't hesitate whatsoever when it comes to a [much lesser-known] Republican. Here, we read the party affiliation right in the opening paragraph:

Robert A. McKee, a Republican delegate from Washington County, resigned Friday, saying he has "entered treatment" after investigators searched his home in Hagerstown and seized his personal computer.

The FBI's cyber crimes unit is helping Washington County authorities in analyzing materials seized from McKee's home, an FBI spokesman said Friday. The cyber crimes unit investigates computer crimes including malicious hacking, child pornography and Internet fraud.

Just yet another example of the AP's political labels double standard.

(h/t to NB reader DaBird.)