It's time for yet another edition of Name That Party! Disgraced Newark, New Jersey mayor Sharpe James' trial for abusing his powers for favoritism and corruption began today in federal court. According to the prosecutor, the former mayor,
...abused his office by steering discounted city property to a girlfriend who then sold the parcels for large profits, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at James' fraud trial. Former Newark, New Jersey, mayor Sharpe James going on trial for federal corruption charges. "This case is about fraud, favoritism and concealment," Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Kwon said in his opening statement. James got romance while co-defendant Tamika Riley made profits by quickly selling the land instead of redeveloping it as required, Kwon said. "The only people who didn't benefit from these land deals were the people of Newark," Kwon told the jury.
Yet in the entirety of the article on CNN's site, the party affiliation of Mayor James was never mentioned. Not once. Surprised? Not when one discovers that James is a Democrat. It seems that for CNN, if an accused person is a Republican, that is news-worthy, but when the principal is a Democrat, the party is something that readers simply don't need to know. Wouldn't it be nice if the media treated parties the same when it came to reporting allegations? However, if they did, they wouldn't be the mainstream media- partisan, subjective and thoroughly untrustworthy. Hat tip to NewsBusters reader grumpybb. Cross-posted at StoneHeads.
