This is hilarious but rings oh so true. Here’s the lede of an imagined mainstream news story on Sarah Palin if she were Barack Obama’s VP choice instead of John McCain’s:
ANCHORAGE — Fresh from her jaunty, popular appearance on Saturday Night Live, the mom from the American Outback, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, continues to inject new life into the country’s mainstream as Sen. Barack Obama’s vice presidential running mate.
None of the language in this story can be said to be out of bounds journalistically. It uses actual facts as they exist regarding Palin and turns them into a glowing tribute rather than an indictment, which is how the actual stories on Palin have appeared.
This illustrates how easy it is to tweak reporting to make it lean one way or the other. It’s all in the reporter’s and the editor’s hands. They decide whether they want to skewer or uplift a candidate. And they can always say they’re being fair and objective.
There’s much more. Read it all.
