..And They Keep Doing It

Back in August, I posted some observations/criticisms about some of the political news coverage I found at Richard Mellon Scaife's Tribune-Review.

I wrote then that Brill's Content, a now defunct political news site, asserted in 2001 that the political coverage over at the Trib was skewed and it's " information laundered" to suit Scaife's viewpoints.  Financial connections between the paper's owner and its sources were routinely omitted and its readers were being mislead about a story's credibility.  I added that that practice still seems to be taking place.

And now there's this piece by Selena Zito in Today's paper about Senator Pat Toomey.  Where Brad Bumstead ignored his boss's financial connections to the Club For Growth and Senator Toomey, Zito just simply omits any connection between Toomey and the Scaife-funded Club For Growth.

If you don't think this is a big deal, then ask yourself: How would my opinion of the piece change had Zito chosen to tell me that her boss had both donated to the campaign of the Senator she was interviewing AND to the conservative think tank he once headed?

Now do you see?

Forgive Us, O Lord, For This Dreadful Toadying

Our good friend Brad Bumstead over at the Trib included this in his reporting yesterday:

WHAT ABOUT GOD?: Critics took issue with Democrats’ decision to remove the only use of the word “God” from the 2008 version of their platform, comparing it to the GOP platform approved last week, which made 10 mentions of the word. GOP Chairman Reince Priebus linked to a blog mentioning the omission with the simple commentary, “WOW. Disgraceful.”

The blog linked to by Priebus is this one from David Brody at CBN.

The implication from Bumstead, of course, is that the Democratic Party is simply godless while the GOP is more fully washed in the blood of the lamb.

Brody, however, is a bit fairer (if only a bit) in that he includes the text from the Democratic Platform that mentions faith.  Here it is:

Faith has always been a central part of the American story, and it has been a driving force of progress and justice throughout our history. We know that our nation, our communities, and our lives are made vastly stronger and richer by faith and the countless acts of justice and mercy it inspires. Faith- based organizations will always be critical allies in meeting the challenges that face our nation and our world – from domestic and global poverty, to climate change and human trafficking. People of faith and religious organizations do amazing work in communities across this country and the world, and we believe in lifting up and valuing that good work, and finding ways to support it where possible. We believe in constitutionally sound, evidence-based partnerships with faith-based and other non-profit organizations to serve those in need and advance our shared interests. There is no conflict between supporting faith-based institutions and respecting our Constitution, and a full commitment to both principles is essential for the continued flourishing of both faith and country.

Those damned faithless apostates!  Hey, but what about those numbers?  Is there any context that can be used to better understand what they mean?

Of course there is.

Our good friends at Media Matters have an interesting take on this "story."  Take a look:

Fox News has fixated on the fact that the Democratic platform for 2012 does not mention the word "God," and used a misleading graphic that points out that the Republican platform for 2012 references "God" more often than the Democratic platform has in any of the last four election years. The graphic ignores that in 2000 and 2004, the Democratic platform contained the word "God" more times than the Republican platform in those years; moreover, the 2012 Democratic platform has a section on faith. [emphasis added]

You knew that was coming, right?  That must mean that Gore's Democrat Party in 2000 (or Kerry's in 2004) loved Gawd more than Bush's GOP, right?  Doesn't it?

Thanks, Brad.  Gave us a chuckle this morning.