Newspaper coverage of allegations against John Edwards by National Enquirer

Have any of your newspapers done any coverage about the allegations printed in the National Enquirer that former North Carolina Democratic Sen. John Edwards visited a woman described as his mistress who he fathered a child with? Have you seen any newspapers do any coverage?

(I specifically used the word newspapers to differentiate them from blogs and Web sites, which are very different animals. I know of at least one major metropolitan newspaper Web site that has written about this.)

One newspaper here did Wednesday, with the lede, "Vice Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards was caught visiting his mistress and secret love child at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday in a Beverly Hills hotel by the National Enquirer."

I have problems identifying the woman as his mistress and the reference to secret love child. I also have a problem identifying Edwards as a vice presidential candidate and senator. He is no longer in the Senate and was a vice presidential candidate four years ago. (However, those issues are minor compared to the others.)

Do these references to the mistress and "love child" put the paper (not the National Enquirer) in any danger of losing a libel suit?

 

Frankly, this is the type of attention I wish all of this type of shit received. Which is none.

 

Fox News is the only news outlet I have seen approach the story.
The LA Times went so far as to send a memo banning staffers from even blogging about the subject, muchless writing a story about it.

I have seen squat on the AP wire all week.

 

Why would the LA Times go to such great lengths to squelch this story? Edwards is a huge public figure and a timely one, considering he was one of the top presidential candidates this year, is a possibility as a VP candidate this year, etc.

If all the circumstances were exactly the same and this were Mike Huckabee in Edwards's shoes, LA Times, NYT, etc. would be all over it, splashing it across the front page.

You know it and I know it.

 

RANDOM HYPOTHETICAL IS TRUE! YOU KNOW IT AND I KNOW IT!

LIBRUHL BIAS!

 

I'm sorry, buddy, but this is just so fucking ridiculous it's scary.

 

Scroll down a bit here, http://www.slate.com/id/2195914/, and you'll find its answer.

The quick answer is because the National Enquirer has been the only source.

 

The Miami Herald exposed Gary Hart (a Dem) because Hart was stupid enough to suggest reporters follow him if they didn't believe him. Otherwise, I think it's nobody's business unless there is legal action that makes it public record. It's wishful thinking, but mainstream newspapers ought to let the National Enquirers of the world and their bloggy spawn have the monopoly on reporting about Edwards' interplanetary lovechild.

 

From the Gary Hart Wikipedia page: "Hart officially declared his candidacy on April 13, 1987. Rumors began circulating nearly immediately that Hart was having an extramarital affair. In an interview that appeared in the New York Times on May 3, 1987, Hart responded to the rumors by daring the press corps: "Follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored." The Miami Herald had been investigating Hart's rumored womanizing for weeks before the "dare" appeared in the New York Times. Two reporters from the Miami Herald had staked out his residence and observed an attractive young woman coming out of Hart's Washington, D.C., townhouse on the evening of May 2. The Herald published the story on May 3, the same day Hart's dare appeared in print, and the scandal spread rapidly through the national media."

 

Wikipedia? Good grief.

They were working the story, but they had made no decision to publish and had not yet confirmed Hart/Rice before seeing Hart's challenge.

Investigations Editor Savage, photographer Smith and reporter Fiedler caught pre-dawn flights to Washington and discussed their objectives during the flight. Fiedler circled a passage in a New York Times Magazine article slated for Sunday publication and handed it to Savage.

“Follow me around, I don't care, ” Hart was quoted as saying. “I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'd be very, bored. ”

They arrived in Washington at 10:05 a.m. and reached the street in front of Hart's townhouse about 11. Smith and Savage parked on opposite corners with a clear view of Hart's car, but a partially obstructed view of the front door. Fiedler parked on the street behind the townhouse, where he could watch the alley entrance.


http://www.unc.edu/~pmeyer/Hart/hartarticle.html

The decision:

http://www.unc.edu/~pmeyer/Hart/hartarticlepart2.html

 

Pretty much.
Though Drudge has cited someone, maybe Fox News? who got confirmation of the episode by a security guard.
That still doesn't verify any claims of any affair or a love child... just that Edwards was in a Beverly hotel at 4:30 a.m.

 

As has been noted elsewhere, those raving conservative neocons at HuffingtonPost.com have been trying to tell you for a year or more that there was something fishy in the Edwards-Hunter relationship. Mickey Kaus, another raving Rovian operative, has been on the case almost as long.

Bottom line: Bill Clinton's buddy Ron Burkle owns the National Enquirer now, and – in true Corleone fashion – they are going to settle all family business.

When the real shoe drops on Obama, that's where it will drop, too.