This page was last updated on February 17, 2011.
The real scandal; Editorial; Beaver County Times; February 17, 2011.
In general, I agree with the claimed sentiment in the editorial. The reason for the critique is to illustrate an example of media bias by omission. As I’ve noted before, bias isn’t always about what’s in an article; sometimes it’s about what’s omitted.
Twice the editorial noted Mr. Scarnati is a Republican. That’s perfectly fine and I believe noting a politician’s party affiliation is almost always called for even if it’s unrelated to the story.
Now let’s look at how the Times treated ethical lapses by a local Democrat. Since 2007, the Times chided Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl at least four times for ethical lapses similar to that cited for Mr. Scarnati. In none of those editorials did the Times mention Mr. Ravenstahl’s party affiliation even once. This is a case of media bias by omission. In fairness, the Times doesn’t always omit a Democrat’s party affiliation when reporting he/she did something questionable.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.