Sanford Got Himself In Scandal … Media Is An Easy Scapegoat

In reading an article on News Busters I read from a writer who is upset about coverage of the controversy surrounding Republican Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Now, the media coverage on this has been big (for a lot of reasons … reasons that have nothing to do with political parties). The writer, Rich Noyes, articulates a few controversial cases involving Democrats he asserts have not garnered as much coverage as Sanford’s crazy tales. But, the writer seems to have omitted a couple of things that caught my eye as I read over the story: (1) I saw no mention of how the media beat up and beat down former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards (and, actually, continues to go after him) and (2) I saw no mention of the affair controversy involving a Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada (an affair that is not getting much coverage all things considered). The writer also seems to ignore that Gov. Sanford disappeared, few people seemed to know where he was, he is responsible for the people of South Carolina, there was dishonesty about his whereabouts, Republicans have portrayed themselves as the party of family values, he was missing around Father’s Day and … on and on it goes.

Here is the News Busters article:

In the week since South Carolina’s Republican Governor announced he had flown to Argentina to carry on an extra-marital affair, the broadcast morning and evening news shows have gone full bore on the scandal, cranking out 49 stories even in the midst of other major stories like Michael Jackson’s death and the continuing repression in Iran.

The morning after Sanford announced his affair, on the June 25 Good Morning America, longtime correspondent Sam Donaldson used the scandal to broadly charge Republicanswith being “sanctimonious. They thump the Bible. They condemn everyone else, and when they [act] human, they don’t have much credit in the bank for forgiveness.” Unlike when New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught consorting with a prostitute in March 2008, all three broadcast networks immediately identified Sanford’s party ID.

A number of top Democrats are enmeshed in embarrassment or facing allegations of wrongdoing, but the networks have far less interest in publicizing those cases.A rundown of ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening coverage so far this year [ talks about Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN), Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Ex-Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA).]

I am not saying those are not scandals, but to imply bias seems off base.

Noyes’ headline: Heavy Coverage of Sanford’s Woes, But Where Are Democratic Scandals?

Noyes must have been asleep during the presidential primaries.

Ask John Edwards if his affair got far less interest.

Tags: affair, Democrat, John Edwards, John Ensign, mainstream media, Mark Sanford, media coverage, Nevada, News Busters, Republican, sex, South Carolina