PressEthic

Fox News.com's site included a transcript from a recent show alleging that the mainstream media has ignored the topic of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's recent land deal because of its Democratic bias. A similar article was found on an opinion page on Yahoo news. However, a search on Google news produced a full page of articles on the subject from various publications around the country.

The Yahoo article suggests that it is network news that has consciously avoided the subject. Yet, when I searched the websites of ABC, NBC, and CBS, I found some coverage of the subject. Albeit, the coverage was in no way comparable to that of the Foley case, but is this a matter of bias or selling news?

In print media, the majority of coverage on Reid focused on his paying out Christmas bonuses with campaign funds. However, coverage on Reid seemed extensive over the past few days.

In the Fox News transcripts, the host questions whether there might have been more coverage of Reid in the mainstream media if he had been a Republican. It would be hard to posit if this could be true. But the question exists as to whether this is an example of mainstream media's pandering towards Democratic agendas or whether it is simply a case of focusing on news that will sell.

What was most interesting on the Fox News site was the opening of the part of the transcripts where the host goes on a tirade about how Democrats are defying their role as the "people's party" through affluent lifestyles, a point that does not seem relevant to the issue of media coverage. Another question could be asked. If Reid was a Republican and the mainstream media had attributed the same amount of coverage, would the Fox News reporter have been so up in arms?