BCT “news” article – 10/10/04

This page was last updated on October 10, 2004.

Research hinges on election; April Johnston, Times staff; Beaver County Times; October 10, 2004.

This front-page, above-the-fold article is one more example of editorial policy creeping into news reporting. In theory, the purpose of the article was to present the facts regarding stem cell research and the different positions taken by President Bush and John Kerry.

The very first sentence, however, has nothing to do with stem cell research but instead attempts to reinforce a liberal talking point. Ms. Johnston leads off her article with, “No doubt money-hungry [my emphasis] conservative Alex P. Keaton would have cast his ballot for George Bush.” Though there’s no doubt that “money-hungry” is relatively descriptive of the character who was a caricature, it wasn’t necessary for this article.

The article mentioned Nancy Reagan disagreed with President Bush’s decision, but did not mention that Mrs. Reagan is not a “one issue voter” and will vote for President Bush in November.

The article said Mr. Fox is “hanging his support on a single concern: federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.” This may be true, but a check of Federal Election Commission records shows all of Mr. Fox’s political contributions have been to Democrats, except for Arlen Specter who really is a Democrat running as a Republican. Would Mr. Fox have supported President Bush if he agreed with his stem cell research position? I have my doubts.

If you want the President’s side of the discussion, go to Embryonic Stem Cell Misinformation on the Bush-Cheney web site.