The following is an e-mail I've sent to AP radio regarding their presentation of a news story this morning:
apradio@ap.org
To Whom It May Concern:
This morning, while listening to my favorite local radio station, WDCB, I heard, as usual, the top of the hour AP news-feed, a brief few minutes before the station switches to local news.
I was quite struck by the snippet regarding the Paul O'Neill story. "You've heard how former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill says President Bush was disengaged during cabinet meetings? Well, O'Neill says he'll probably vote for President Bush."
There's nothing patently false about this statement. But it strikes me as odd. Yes, I had heard O'Neill make that comment about Bush's disengagement at cabinet meetings. But I also heard him state that Bush doubted the wisdom of his second round of tax cuts for the wealthy, and......most assuredly of far greater news value.....I heard O'Neill say that Bush planned to go to war against Iraq only days after taking office, well before 9/11.
I have to believe that any news editor worth his salt would regard O'Neill's claim about Iraq to be of far greater importance, to be far more newsworthy if you will, than his comments about disengagement at cabinet meetings.
That is, unless the editor was deliberately attempting to minimize any news about George W. Bush that might diminish his chances this November.
Sadly, that appears to be what's going on at the AP these days.
We need to barrage these whores every single time we hear or read something like this!
