St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Sarah Palin walks on water
It’s amazing to see the horrifically slanted local coverage of Sarah Palin by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . The only daily newspaper in St. Louis has now unveiled Palin as a party savior, refusing to engage with the ongoing torrent of information revealing Sarah Palin to be an inexperienced, dishonest and vindictive politician.
For those people who get their news by reading the headlines and scanning the main articles of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Republican bait and switch has so far been an incredible success. Check out the front page headlines for the past few days:
The problem isn’t just that the Post-Dispatch uncritically reprints the press releases of the RNC. It’s that the Post-Dispatch is refusing to synthesize easily available information–derogatory information being produced by the bucketload by the blogosphere; the internet is literally exploding with red flags about Palin. For instance, Palin was for federal funding of the bridge to nowhere, yet she stood up and lied about it last night, before a national audience (see here; and here; and check out this photo). It was a clear lie, and responsible reporters should report this dishonesty.
There is a lot of good reporting out there. Local reporting, however, local newscasts and local newspapers, have a long history of failing to be aggressive seekers of truth. For instance, most local newspapers are entirely devoid of investigative reporting. Same thing for local television newscasts.
Unfortunately, huge numbers of citizens (studies show it to be about 70 - 80% of people) turn primarily to local news sources, and consider themselves to be fully informed once they read local news and watch the local television news. This is a terrible situation. People are lead to believe that they are well informed when they are not. Newspapers should be providing citizens with the information that will enable them to be responsible voters. When they fail to do that, the “Democracy” becomes a sham. The Post Dispatch has a long history of failing to report the dangers of the new Republican Party.
When people are deprived of knowing the natural consequences of their actions, they will often act destructively. With this recent barrage of one-sided “news,” the Post-Dispatch is guilty of journalistic malpractice. Is anybody at the Post-Dispatch listening??
About the Author: Erich Vieth is an iconoclastic attorney and writer living in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. He and his wife have two daughters, aged 8 and 10.
Dan Conley has the right take on the media and Palin:
http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=15192