Memo to the Washington Post: It's spelled D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T

I poured through a lot of stories, NY Times, Chicago papers, AP. But the Washington Post is pretty blatant about not specifying the party affiliation of Illinois Gov. Blagojevich

In this story, Blagojevich is never identified as a Democrat. However, former Illinois congressman Denny Hastert, implicated in a peripheral way, is identified as a Republican:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/12/the_governors_shakedowns.html?hpid=artslot

Another story, which also never identifies Blagojevich’s party affiliation. However, past Illinois governors are identified by party affiliation, two GOP and one Dem:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2008/12/is_illinois_the_most_corrupt_s.html?hpid=artslot

Ding, ding, ding, ding … finally, the Washington Post identifies a Democrat in a story: Jesse Jackson Jr. But still doesn’t identify Blago as a Dem:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/12/10/jackson_denies_involvement_in.html

Okay, folks. You tell me. Another example of liberal bias, or just lazy reporting and editing?

 

IMO, lazy reporting and editing.

When I wrote a BLOG!!! entry today about Blago, I made sure to go back up and include his party affiliation before I posted it.

 

From the main story, which just moved on our wire but which I didn't see on the site.

Good?

 

One out of four stories ain't bad, if you're lowering the standards that much. But you will still note that Jackson has his party affiliation mentioned on first reference (D-Ill.), while Blago's is in the second graph, preceded by "also a Democrat."

 

You could easily argue that that's just a matter of word choice. You want it to say "...and the entire Senate Democratic caucus called on Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich..."? That's pretty damn awkward.

 

Good job, deputy! Similarly, if they weren't so lazy and libruhl they would have already uncovered Barack Obama's secret-muslim-terror-plot too.

 

gawd dang libruhl midiah.

 

Haha, too bad, hondo!

 

Well, the writer's probably just evening the score after those horrible Chicago columnists were so mean to Blago.

 

Hardly the point.

 

So this is a journalism 101-type mistake, kind of like not mentioning the race or religion of a terrorism suspect or the immigration status of somebody who was arrested and has a spanish name?

 

Straws. Grasping.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/551624

AP story.

A first paragraph without that nasty liberal media bias would have been:

Democratic President-elect Barack Obama called for Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign on Wednesday, hours after the embattled Democratic governor reported for work amid charges he plotted to sell Obama's vacant Democratic Senate seat.