Via TPMTPM:
The South Carolina newspaper The State has a story about how Gov. Mark Snaford's staff couldn't find him when he was "hiking the Appalachian Trail" (insert jokes here).
But, as TPM points out, notice the offers of help - help! - from the usual suspects: Fox, the Washington Times and the WSJ:
In an email to Sanford press secretary Joel Sawyer, Brendan Miniter, an editor of the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com, called out his own paper's first-day coverage (sub. req.) of the story, writing: "Someone at WSJ should be fired for today's story. Ridiculous."
Yeah! Completely ridiculous! Next thing you know they'll be writing that Snaford is in Argentina having an extramarital affair! Well, you can't believe what you read in the Wall Street Journal, right, Mr. Wall Street Journal guy?
A Fox News correspondent wrote:
Having known the Governor for years and even worked with him when he would host radio shows for me -- I find this story and the media frenzy surrounding it to be absolutely ridiculous! Please give him my best.
Yes! Who could possibly condone such a media frenzy about the private life of a politician? Next thing you know, people will be asking whether he's a secret Muslim who gives terrorist fist jabs!
A staffer with The Washington Times wrote in an e-mail that "if you all want to speak on this publicly, you’re welcome to Washington Times Radio. You know that you will be on friendly ground here!"
OK, seriously, I've been trying to figure out a way to snark this and I can't. I work in the mainstream media and of course I have some story subjects and sources I personally like better than others. But it literally would never enter my mind to say anything like "You know that you will be on friendly ground here!" to anyone, not even privately. I don't even understand what mindset could produce a sentence like that, but it has nothing to do with what journalism is or is supposed to be.
I'd like to think that these revelations will change anything, or make someone who currently respects the Washington Times and Fox News to change their thinking. But who am I kidding? Someone, somewhere, this very day, will start talking about "the liberally biased media." And he or she will be taken seriously.
EDITED to make the diary title a little more accurate.