Twelve days ago I noted how the Baltimore Sun failed to mention indicted Mayor Sheila Dixon's Democratic Party affiliation in a story about an embezzlement trial. The mayor stands accused of misappropriating gift cards intended for poor Baltimoreans. Instead of making sure the donated retail gift cards got into the hands of needy folks, Dixon is alleged to have used them for her own personal shopping spree.
Today, with the Dixon jury literally still out, the Sun's Annie Linskey and Julie Bykowicz did mention Dixon's Democratic Party affiliation, albeit in the very last sentence of their November 23 14-paragraph story published in the Metro section of the Washington Post*:
Under instructions given to the jury, Dixon can be convicted of theft or embezzlement -- but not both -- because those charges are based on two contradictory theories: that Dixon had no right to possess the gift cards and therefore stole them or that Dixon had a right to possess the cards but misused them.
[...]
If found guilty of any of the charges, the 55-year-old Democratic mayor could be forced out of office, lose her $83,000 annual pension and be fined or face jail time.
*The Sun and the Post have a news-sharing arrangement where Sun stories may be syndicated in the Post and vice-versa. I did not find this story over at the Baltimore Sun's Web site. Other articles covering the trial by Bykowicz and Linskey are hit-or-miss when it comes to mentioning Dixon's party affiliation.
