Mainstream Media Running For Cover After Ignoring Edwards Scandal

August 11, 2008 · Filed Under Chris Jones, Liberal Bias

Most Americans know the media is totally corrupt, and the refusal to cover the John Edwards scandal was the final straw. Now the mainstream media is running for cover while offering a wide range of excuses, but assuring readers that “liberal bias” had absolutely nothing to do with it — nothing at all.

I think Jennifer Rubin at Commentary Magazine said it best:

The Edwards mess is the most recent and visible, but hardly unique, example of the mainstream media’s hear no evil/see no evil approach to newsgathering. How many other stories has the MSM missed, denied or avoided? From Rathergate to Reverend Wright to the success of the surge, the pattern is the same: MSM stalls, shuffles its collective feet, and doggedly ignores information for as long as possible until they can no longer do so with a straight face. The fact that these stories without exception work to the detriment of Democrats is apparently a grand coincidence.

I don’t think the excuses are gonna hold any water with the vast majority of Americans this time. The Edwards story was a defining moment for the mainstream press and they failed miserably. Journalistic standards seem to only matter when the subject of a story happens to be a liberal Democrat.

Howard Kurtz sums up the absurdity of the MSM pretty well in his column this morning:

When critics, especially on the right, accused the media of protecting a Democrat because of liberal bias, journalists were unable to respond, because to do so would be to acknowledge the very thing they were declining to report.

Probably the most laughable excuse that continues to come up over and over again is the Elizabeth Edwards factor. The media was hesitant to cover the story out of sympathy and respect for Elizabeth Edwards given her battle with cancer.

Wow, I had no idea the media was so compassionate. When did this start? Seems a little convenient that the blood sucking vampires that make up the mainstream press had a sudden attack of conscience. The fact that John Edwards is a long time favorite of the far left is a complete coincidence — honesty, I swear.

Maybe I’m just being too cynical. When you really think about it, this sudden attack of conscience by the media may have started before the Edwards scandal. The media didn’t want to cover Rathergate out of respect for Dan Rather’s long and illustrious career. I can only assume the refusal to cover the success of the surge was out of respect for all the slain insurgents. Using the same rationale, I’m guessing that reluctance to cover Rev. Wright in the beginning was out of respect for the church.

It’s all starting to make sense now — or not.

Here’s the best excuse pieces of the day:

Howard Kurtz

L.A. Times

N.Y. Times

-Chris Jones