That description could fit The Associated Press in general, not just the Sarah Palin hit piece they did on the natural gas pipeline deal Palin shepherded through a political minefield in Alaska. The Anchorage Daily News, a McClatchy paper that has tried hard to get lefty cred by endorsing the Obama-Biden ticket, at least was honest enough to remark on the AP’s dishonesty:

This report from The Associated Press is a remarkably skewed account with little new information to support the charge it implies. Presumably, readers are supposed to conclude that Palin tilted the gas line bidding toward a favored company, one that had previously employed one of her key staffers.

Here’s the truth: The pipeline terms were not “Palin’s.” They were the terms requested by the sovereign state of Alaska, as provided in the Alaska Constitution.

While Palin did indeed start by proposing very similar bid terms, all of Alaska’s key decisions about those terms and the contract award itself were made through an unusually open public process that culminated in formal and enthusiastic approval from the Alaska Legislature.

They conclude this way (emphasis added):

The Daily News is not a mindless hometown cheerleader for our governor. We have endorsed the opposing ticket in the presidential race.

But voters should make their judgment based on sound information. The AP report has offered a distorted picture of Sarah Palin’s admirable performance in Alaska’s long-running quest for a North Slope gas line.