The former Speaker of the House of Massachusetts was charged for perjury in a recent probe. They mention his party once not connected with his name (the phrase "the Democrat from Boston") in paragraph 4. Compare this with the latest news on Tom DeLay the not only mentions the word Republican 6 times, but it also puts it in the title with his name.
Food for thought... if Tom Finneran was a Republican, would that fact be mentioned more? I think we all know the answer to that.
From John Bambenek of Ravings of John C. A. Bambenek
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Scott
Satisfy my curiousity...where else should they have used the word "Democrat" in the article on Finneran?
2 - John Bambenek
Well, certainly as common as they use the word Republican when dealing with Republican congressman that get into trouble.
3 - Eric Olsen
I think this was actually quite a telling catch John, thanks!
4 - Scott
"Well, certainly as common as they use the word Republican when dealing with Republican congressman that get into trouble."
So, the word "Democrat" should be squeezed in there at least 5 more times is what you're saying?
5 - John Bambenek
Thanks Eric.
Scott: Not necessarily. Either not squeeze in Republican as much when reporting on Republican malfeasance, or use it more when reporting on Democrat problems. If they want to say they are objective, they should use the same standard independent of party.
6 - Johno
I'm not so sure whether this is significant. If the AP stringer has gone native in Boston, it merely shows that he's absorbed the local bias. Since Republicans are still fairly rare here and historically practically nonexistent as far as positions of power goes (and this despite nearly two decades of Republican governers), the "democrat" reference only needs to affirm that Finneran is one of the *usual* band of thieves rather than the *new* brand who have ridden in on Romney's coattails. Moreover, most of the big scandals 'round here are Dems anyway, being as they've been at the money teat for longer.
I'm not saying you're wrong; I'm just saying the article as written makes sense to me here in the rathole of the Bay State.
7 - SFC SKI
A more accurate method would be to compare articles by teh same author, or the same news agency.
8 - Mark Saleski
or use it more when reporting on Democrat problems
that would be fine with me...as long as they use the word Democratic instead of that talk radio favorite: Democrat.
9 - Eric Berlin
DeLay's party affiliation is significant because he's the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a powerful position in one of the governing bodies of the United States. The party affiliation of someone in the state legislature is much less significant.
The continued charges by the right of liberal media bias are, in most cases, simply not true.
10 - John Bambenek
Excuse me? The party affiliation of someone who is the Speaker of the House of a state legislature is not important?
I think anybody who is paying any attention to the politics of their state would disagree with you on that point.
11 - Eric Berlin
I said it was less significant, not unimportant.
In looking over the two stories you present, it seem as though DeLay was only explicitly labeled as a Republican twice (excluding the header): once as a powerful Republican, and then again to define his role as second-in-command in the HoR.
I don't see any bias.
12 - Steve S
Perhaps the difference is that they use Republican more with DeLay because he's still in office and they only referred to it once in the article (about the Dem) because he left office and went into the private sector awhile ago (according to the very same article).
---
If it's not Republican spin, then it must be liberal bias.
13 - Shark
Lemmee translate this brilliant "essay":
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
And for those of you new to this planet, Bambineck has discovered...
are you ready for this...
...MEDIA BIAS!
Booooo! Hissss!
And guess what!?
They're [gasp!] Liberals!
The same folks who "support terrorists" and enemies of the USA, the same folks who support those who would "kill our civilians"!
At least we know Bambi-neck can count; still waiting for evidence that he can think and/or write.
PS: Bambi, last time I checked, um...
YOUR BOYS RUN THE FUCKING COUNTRY.
You big baby.
14 - Anonimo Gaddiano
I discovered bias against Idaho by going through the NY Times and The Idaho Statesman, and noting the discrepancy in use of the word 'potato'
15 - BillB
Some ado about nothing.
>The former Speaker of the House of Massachusetts was charged for perjury in a recent probe.<
>Excuse me? The party affiliation of someone who is the Speaker of the House of a state legislature is not important?<
OK. I know which but do you? Former or current Speaker of the house? It's the, er former.
This furthers Eric Berlin's comment #9 and make the party affiliation even less significant.
Gotta give you props though for trying to make the msm seem liberally biased. Ambitious endeavor.
Oh you'll find the majority of the front line newsfolk tend toward the liberal side of the spectrum but up the food chain it's slim pickins.
And of course it's the latter who have editorial power.
16 - El Bicho
Food for thought: The only thing that has been revealed is your own bias.
Did you read the articles you link to? The DeLay charges involve Republicans directly, namely the "Texans for a Republican Majority." How was the reporter supposed to write his piece without referring to them? DeLay is only identified as a Republican twice in a longer article, which is one more party identification than Fineran. Fineran's charges were "lying under oath about his role in the redrawing of the state's legislative districts," and his activities didn't necessarily help Democrats, but all incumbents.
I'll leave out the fact that you use articles from two different reporters from two different new services, Reuters and AP, but what exactly is the bias?
17 - Eric Berlin
I would say your average straight news reporter might lean liberal in personal politics but busts his/her ass to be impartial in news coverage.
18 - SFC SKI
EB, I'd like to believe that, but how about the national newsies and big feature writers?
All I can say is that when I read a straight, unslanted, news feature on the major topics of the day, I am almost jaw-droppingly surprised.
19 - Eric Berlin
What do you mean by "feature" SFC? Do you mean an editorial or a regular news story that has some level of analysis?
If you're talking editorials, it's obvious to me that whereas the print pubs most often hit up for being liberal (NYT, Wash Post, etc.) share their editorial pages with a variety of opinions and voices, the conservative pubs don't nearly follow.
And as far as straight news reporting, I just don't see it. I really think that George W. Bush has had an incredibly easy ride from the press. Contrast that with Clinton and the heat he took throughout his presidency.
20 - SFC SKI
By feature I mean the larger magazine reporting rather than daily news. Editorial writers should be, IMO, up front about their opinions and clealry link them to facts when necessary, or delineate them as mere opinion when appropriate/ I have no problem with a biased editorial, I do have a problem with bias presented as whole truth. I also have a problem with people who take opinions they read as facts, but I can't blame reporters for that.
I disagree with you on your second paragraph, but I was outside the US for most of Clinton's term, and the Internet was much smaller then, so I can't say I devoted a lot of time to reading more news from multiple sources back then.
Keep in mind, I personally don't care for most of th "Mainstream" media who I feel are too interested in getting the soundbites or one sentence "gotcha" lines than actually reporting facts and analyzing them in context.
21 - Eric Olsen
I don't think John overdid this or gave it more weight than it deserves: he simply saw a quantifiable discrepancy and made note of it. This is actual reporting
22 - Eric Berlin
On the level of reporting -- in my view -- we have a story about a Democrat that was labeled as such once and a story about a Republican that was labeled as such twice.
23 - Eric Berlin
In any event, in light of what I just stated above, I think it's a far leap to go ahead and say "party only matters when it's a Republican."
24 - ClubhouseCancer
I cannot see what comparing a single news item from the AP about a state legislator with an article from Reuters about a Congressman could possibly show about anything, especially any kind of bias.
25 - Eric Olsen
it's just an observation and the length of the post reflects this - it's not a full-blown study. Is there hyperbole in the title? Yes, but not in the brief post