The national media’s diligence in chasing down South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is commendable in light of the fact that it was such a busy news day. It’s a wonder they had any time to cover it, considering they were so busy telling us about how wonderful socialized medicine will be. With all the time they spent throughout the day talking about Sanford going AWOL to have an affair, I suppose ABC can now argue that they gave the Republican party equal air-time for the day. However, one thing in all of this has left me curious.

Bear with me here for a moment. Google Mark Sanford’s name. Notice that nearly every article on the front page is about the scandal uncovered today. The national media was saturated with the salacious details.

Now Google Mike Easley’s name. On the front page, there’s only one reference to the massive federal investigation into him and his wife. One governor disappeared from his job for a week to commit adultery in South America. The other former governor, who just left office this year, is being investigated for his private air travel, and for his wife’s and son’s use of vehicles they didn’t own, and the news broke today that subpoenaed emails are now disappearing from computers owned by Easley’s friends.

Even if you Google Mike Easley’s name with the words “federal investigation”, the first article that comes up is from the News & Observer in his home state, from a month ago.  One governor is a Republican, and everyone you meet knows his name today.  The other man was recently governor of the state right next door, and people blink at you if you say his name, unless they’re actually from North Carolina.  This is no accident.

The crimes that Easley is accused of are certainly newsworthy.  Furthermore, his alleged crimes are far more numerous than Governor Sanford’s.  Now don’t get me wrong.  The Sandford story absolutely needs to be covered, and his admission to the accusation certainly makes it newsworthy today.  But once again, do you recall the flurry of media activity that happened when the grand jury was convened to investigate the allegations against Easley?  I didn’t think so.  The blatant omission of the Easley scandal from the national news is a story worthy of coverage in itself.  I wonder which political party he belongs to?

One of the tenets of media ethics is the concept of objectivity.  Journalists and news outlets are supposed to cover both sides of every issue, to give equal time, so to speak.  When the media uncovers a Republican scandal, the coverage is wall-to-wall, 24-7.  They huff and puff anytime someone brings up liberal media bias, and yet they violate their own ethical code every time they ignore an equally newsworthy scandal involving a Democrat.

Technorati Tags: Hypocricy, Mark Sanford, Media Bias, Media ethics, Mike Easley

Tags: Hypocricy, Mark Sanford, Media Bias, Media ethics, Mike Easley

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 11:34 pm and is filed under Broadcast Journalism, Christianity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.