The Orlando Slantinel Obama Bias

I think, in part due to a mindset that I require it to keep a pulse on local events, I remain a daily subscriber to The Orlando Sentinel. Like most other papers, it has it's issues, and most of my issues with it are when a player finds trouble at my alma mater FSU, it finds the front page while issues with Gator players are buried in the sports page on D-6.

The parent company that owns The Orlando Sentinel, along several other dailies including The Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy protection on December 8. Newspapers are dying, but is something else at play? Could a deliberate bias be causing the questioning of the legitimacy of the reporting?

I have never really spotted such activity in The Orlando Sentinel until today, and it is as glaring as a nightime space shuttle launch.

On Tuesday, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D:IL) was arrested for an alarming and extensive list of federal charges of corruption. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald quipped Blagojevich's "conduct would make Abraham Lincoln turn over in his grave". You might think this bombshell, particularly considering the shameful political history of Chicago and since our President-elect, Barack Obama, is from Chicago, would be front page material. If so, you are not in concert with the Sentinel, as a column picked up from the Chicago Tribune fell on A-6.

By itself, that might be a debate for editorial scholars. However, since a story from the Associated Press hammering the GOP for "playing up" possible links to Obama found itself on A-3, we can find little doubt in the bias of this paper.

From what I know, I suspect Obama had nothing to do with the activities of the Governor, and I hope this is the case, partly because I think it would presently be quite harmful to the country if he did given the nasty bear market gripping the country, not to mention the terrorists licking their chops.

However, it is no doubt legitimate to inquire deeper into this historic development. Chicago has a dubious history of corruption in politics, including jail time for several former governors. Although the country spoke loudly on election day, Obama was and continues to be quite elusive in detailing the relationships he has or had with a cast of characters your mother would slap you upside the head if you hung around with, including terrorist William Ayers and indicted real estate developer Tony Rezko, whose name is littered throughout the criminal complaint.

This story is far from over, and I suspect Blagojevich may just sing like a songbird. What cockroaches come crawling out will be the best thing going since All My Children.

The media never pressed the issue of the associations of Obama during the campaign, leaving it to the likes of bloggers, conservative radio talk show hosts and right winged pundits. I hammered it home to all 7 of my readers (1, 2) repeatedly. Now, it appears the media is doing damage control attacking those who now question these alliances. These actions would make Edward R. Murrow turn over in his grave. In Chicago, as the Gravedancer's company files for bankruptcy, there is much grave turning going on.