Washington Post MediaWhoredom on Display..in Full View..

[Cha]

"MASSA'S GONE, ENSIGN'S A SITTING SENATOR".... The Washington Post is promoting its latest scoop today about former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.), who resigned from Congress last month.

Just three months after Eric Massa was elected to Congress, his young male employees on Capitol Hill began complaining to supervisors that the lawmaker was making aggressive, sexual overtures toward them, according to new interviews and internal documents.

The senior staff, one of whom said he heard Massa making lewd remarks to young staffers, tried to manage the problem internally. But reports of Massa's inappropriate behavior continued, leaving junior workers feeling helpless, according to victims, other staffers and sources close to an ongoing House ethics investigation.


To be sure, this sounds extremely damaging for the former lawmaker. The Post appears to have conducted a very thorough investigation, drawing on "more than two dozen interviews and internal documents."

Indeed, the Washington Post has, by most measures, been exceedingly interested in the Massa story for several weeks now. According to a Nexis search, the newspaper has run 26 stories that mention Eric Massa since March 1. Some of those articles were Style-section pieces that mentioned Massa in passing, but most are substantive news stories -- some on the front page -- about his alleged misconduct.

Now, let's contrast this coverage with the Post's reporting on Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who is the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation into his humiliating sex-ethics-corruption scandal.

While the paper has run 26 stories that mention Massa since March 1, it's run 12 stories that mention Ensign since Jan. 1 -- and only five deal with his scandal. The Post's editorial board has only mentioned Ensign once during that time, and that was to praise him for supporting public funding of private schools."

The Post is heavily invested in researching a scandal involving a former House member, but it's choosing to ignore a scandal involving sitting senator. Massa drew scrutiny from the House ethics committee; Ensign is being investigated by the FBI.

If the allegations surrounding Massa are true, there's not much that can be done -- he's already resigned in disgrace. If the allegations surrounding Ensign are true, a sitting senator will have to resign and will likely have to go on trial.

If this were the Washington Times, it'd be easier to understand. But as it stands, the difference in the Post's coverage of the Massa and Ensign controversies is just bizarre.

We're talking about a controversy featuring a sitting senator's adulterous affair, plus alleged ethics violations, hush money, and official corruption. An ongoing FBI investigation appears to be heating up, and by some accounts, expanding, and yet, the Post is still digging into Eric Massa?

—Steve Benen 1:35 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (2)
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

The Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com
(thanks Frenchie for the link)

[goclark]

1. K

[BlueCaliDem]

2. WaPo has become the New York Post.

All they ever do is attack Democrats. They'll toss in an insignificant repub here and there, but they go all out when it's a Democrat. This is not to sweep the ills of our party under the rug, but the unfair treatment in corporate media is a HUGE problem.

It's why the T-buggers get all the print/radio/cable time while nary a peep from, for example, the same-sex rights advocates on the WH lawn. It's why health care reform is a dirty word. It's why repubs can lie, cheat, steal, blatantly take talking points from a repub strategist and never get any hard-hitting questions from corporate media whores. It's why our country is in the state it's in.

[Cha]

3. Precisely, and I've known this since 2002..so

you can imagine how frutstrating it is.

I only started watching corporate news in 2000..it took me awhile.

My hope is that through the Obama admin and the internet we can actually do something about it. We have come along way with our internet..that's why verizon, etc, etc..want to take it away from us.

[BlueCaliDem]

4. Did you hear about McCain's "Internet Freedom Act" bill?

Back in October {and corporate media has yet to pick up on this} John McCain drafted a bill to counter the FCC's new net neutrality rules.

Basically, McCain wants Internet providers to have the right to slow, even block {a la China} connections "to certain, objectionable" sites - like any site that could wake up the American people from corporate media propaganda. There is no doubt that the internet played a key role in helping elect President Obama, and the Republicans have an agenda to stop that from happening.


Here's a link:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/174155/mccain_introduces_bill_to_block_fccs_net_neutrality_rules.html

[Cha]

5. mcpalin is out of control and of course they want

to control our internet like they do the "news"papers & the airwaves.

We've got to stop this..thanks for the reminder, BlueCaliDem!