BCT “news” article – 10/21/04

This page was last updated on October 21, 2004.

Kerry attempts to reel in voters; J.D. Prose, Times staff; Beaver County Times; October 21, 2004.

This front-page, above-the-fold article appears to be one more example of editorial policy creeping into news reporting. The article was supposed to cover a Kerry campaign rally at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Let’s look at a few examples of anti-Bush statements.

The article states:

“Kerry vowed to ‘recommit America’ to scientific research and exploration, going as far to say that under his administration, ‘We will find a cure for diabetes, Alzheimer’s (and) Parkinson's disease’ through stem-cell research.

The author failed to point out no Alzheimer’s and stem cell researchers hold out hope that stem cell research will have any impact on Alzheimer’s because of the nature of the disease. This topic was discussed widely after President Reagan’s death earlier this year.

Either the reporter or his editor should have caught this misstatement.

The article states:

“Bush has prohibited the use of federal funds on new stem-cell research.”

There is no attribution for this statement so readers must interpret it as a Times statement of fact. The statement completely misrepresents the Bush administration stem cell policy. President Bush was the first president to fund stem cell – adult and embryonic – research. The exception was there would be no federal funding for embryonic stem cells harvested after the legislation was enacted. If you want the President’s side of the discussion, go to Embryonic Stem Cell Misinformation on the Bush-Cheney web site.

Again, the issue of embryonic stem cell research has been covered quite a bit recently, so such a mistake should not make it by both the reporter and his editor.

On a different topic, the article states:

“Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney misled the country into the war in Iraq and diverted resources toward it and away from the fight against terrorism and the hunt for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.”

Once again there is no attribution for this statement so readers must interpret it as a Times statement of fact. This statement is no more than a regurgitation of a Kerry campaign talking point.

What makes all of this even more amazing is that the Times has recently taken to attacking “cable news,” calling it “faux news.” Faux News is how liberals refer to Fox News Channel. Make no mistake, the Times really has no problem with cable news except for FNC. Any time the Times bashes cable news, rest assured they really mean FNC.

Perhaps the Times should heed the old saying, “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

PS: I sent some of my comments to Mr. Prose and received the following reply. “Both of those are editing issues which I will pass along to the copy desk. Thanks for your comments.”