Did a political columnist for the morning newspaper just accuse his own publication of political bias?
Columnist Victor Joecks noted that the media jumped all over an obscure Nye County commissioner disendorsing Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt for failing to endorse the Republican primary winner in Assembly District 36, brothel owner Dennis Hof who has been accused of sexual harassment, but totally ignored a press release two weeks ago from Republican Sen. Dean Heller accusing Democratic primary senatorial nominee Jacky Rosen of resume enhancement.
In fact, the same day’s paper carried a lengthy story about the commissioner’s disendorsement of Laxalt along with quotes from Hof about how the move might hurt Laxalt in Nye County and a prepared statement by Laxalt stating, “Adam respects the will of the voters in District 36, however, as a husband and a father of two young daughters, he has stated that he will not be supporting Mr. Hof’s campaign.”
The story also quoted a Democratic Party spokeswoman accusing Laxalt of being two-faced on the topic by being silent about political supporters accused of sexual misdeeds — including a rural sheriff and former casino executive Steve Wynn.
The story did not quote any of the usual university professorial suspects as to whether Laxalt’s stance might help or hurt him or be of no consequence.
Heller’s press release noted that Rosen was quoted by the morning newspaper in 2016 as saying she couldn’t get a degree in computer science from the University of Minnesota because it didn’t exist when she graduated:
She fell in love with the emerging field of computer sciences. The field “just clicked” with her, Rosen said. But back in the 1970s, those degrees weren’t widely available, so she graduated with a degree in psychology while spending most of her free time in the school’s math lab honing her computer skills.
But the Heller press release noted that a story in The Atlantic in January said Rosen had a degree in computer science. The story was corrected online on the same day as Heller’s press release was issued.
Joecks also noted that Rosen told CSPAN3 a year ago she had a degree in computer science. He went on to note that several people’s political ambitions have been crushed when they were caught fudging their resumes.
Joecks concluded:
So why the disparity in coverage between Hof and Rosen? On the merits, it’s baffling. That’s what makes you start thinking about alternative explanations. In a 2013 national survey, just 7 percent of reporters self-identified as Republican. If Heller wins his election, Democrats have no chance of regaining control of the Senate.Sometimes media bias is blatant. But often, it’s more subtle, like the media passing on telling you about Rosen’s résumé lie that could end her political career.
The owner of the morning newspaper may be a big Republican backer, but what about those in the trenches?
4TH ST8 
[…] by Thomas Mitchell 6-20-2018 […]
You Conservatives swallow hundreds of lies from your Grand Master, but one fairly minor lie (she did graduate and was highly studied in computer science at the school. Still a lie, but not far from the truth), and it’s a journalist’s duty to be sure and report even this fairly small irregularity?
Maybe that’s not it. Perhaps your real complaint is that the paper insisted on reporting the withdrawal of an endorsement for a candidate accused of sexual assault. At least that would be consistent. Trump proves that sexual assault charges (and even a confession) don’t stop true Conservatives from electing a member of their own tribe.
In the eyes of true Conservatives, both stories are so minor that bias is not indicated. Minor stories are often published or not depending on the existence of stories with a greater priority.
Come on Rincon, who is exhibiting “tribalism” here? Our “grand master”? “You conservatives”? That sounds like tribalism to me. More us and them.
You state that “…both stories are so minor that bias is not indicated. Sadly, so called minor stories are often published solely on the basis of political bias of the editor/publisher/reporter I wonder, were their stories that existed, to use your words, that were stories with greater priority.” the day that the First Lady left the White House on her way to the airport wearing high heels?
In the world we live in today, the press treats any liberal commission or omission as a venal sin and anything that Trump does or fails to do, a mortal sin.
That is not journalism, it is advocacy.
Just because I point out tribalism doesn’t put me into a tribe – unless you consider moderates to be a tribe unto themselves. Grand Master is a reasonable term. As a primary candidate, Trump was pretty unpopular with many Republicans, including several here. As soon as he became the only Republican candidate, all criticism by Conservatives magically evaporated. Suddenly, he can do no wrong in their eyes.
Contrast Benghazi with Hurricane Maria. Both were allegedly mishandled. The death toll in Behghazi was 4 people who willingly engaged in a risky business. The death toll for Hurricane Maria was somewhere near 4,600 Americans (yes, Puerto Ricans are Americans). Many died in the storm, but a large number died because the United States failed to help in a timely manner. According to the Economist. “Over the same period, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved payments of $142m to victims of Harvey, and $6m to victims of Maria. Ms Meléndez says it was two weeks before she heard from FEMA, and two months before the Army Corps of Engineers started dispensing tarpaulins to patch up Ponce’s 49,000 damaged houses.”
And, “A month before Maria, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and within six days the American army’s Northern Command had deployed 73 helicopters to the city. Yet a week after Maria, Mr Prouty still had the skies over Puerto Rico pretty much to himself: “There was nothing, no Black Hawk up in the air, no C130.” It took Northern Command at least three weeks to send 70 choppers to the island.”
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/04/14/america-has-let-down-its-puerto-rican-citizens
According to Conservatives, Benghazi was sufficient reason to fire Clinton or even send her to jail. Trump’s lack of action in Puerto Rico? “Well, I’m sure he was trying his best…” Double standards are pretty typical when people are rooting for their teams – or tribes.
[…] Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen boasted of getting a degree in computer science, which did not exist at the time; now, no evidence can be found that she ever had a business license for her frequently […]