Shocker: Anchorage Daily News' Official Blogger Posts List of Palin Jokes Cribbed Directly from The Daily Kos; Post Later Deleted, Presumably to Reduce Embarrassment

The guy says he got them in an email with no named writer, which I suppose is plausible enough.

On the other hand, it also demonstrates that his correspondents are Kos readers.

So: Why did the ADN delete the blog-post? I suppose because it's one thing to post a list of crude anti-Palin jokes which come from an "unknown humorist," assumedly "centrist" and "independent" and therefore reflective of general public opinion, but it's another thing to crib jokes from the partisan Daily Kos.

The press likes pretending its biases are "centrist" and "independent" are simply what "most Americans think."

They definitely do not like revealing that their biases are liberal in nature and reflective not of general American opinion but of a liberal minority of American opinion.

Anyone think any newspaper is going to crib LauraW.'s (and your) Pelosi excuses for a post? No, I don't think so either. They wouldn't find the jokes funny, would they?

Plus, they just would never stumble across them in the first place. For, despite it being their jobs and all to keep up with opinion not just on the left but on the right too, they mostly read lefty blogs.

Davis also queried more than 200 journalists to learn how they use blog content in their coverage of political news. Most journalists were aware of influential blogs on both sides of the political spectrum, such as Daily Kos and Talking Points on the left and Michelle Malkin and Instapundit on the right. Despite equal awareness, journalists spend more time reading posts in the liberal blogosphere.

For example, more journalists know about Michelle Malkin than Talking Points. Yet twice as many journalists actually read Talking Points than read Michelle Malkin.

“When journalists take story ideas from blogs, those ideas naturally will come from blogs they read,” Davis said. “These reading patterns suggest journalists may be getting primarily one view of the blogosphere.”

Combine that study with an earlier one demonstrating that 75% of journalists admit to getting stories (or at least angles, tone, and takes) from blogs, and you can sort of see the problem.

The press wouldn't have to constantly cover-up its liberalism if it just decided to be fair to both sides. But that is something they just can't bring themselves to do. Better to continue the lie than to change their behavior so as to make the lie no longer necessary.

Blogs are Mostly Read for Enjoyment... and therefore, of course, liberals will mostly read liberal blogs.

But I can't make this point enough: Unlike most people, journalists are actually paid to keep abreast of news and opinion. Unlike most people, they can actually justify reading blogs at work as, well, work.

And even though they are being paid to read blogs, they still can't muster the energy to read Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, and Instapundit. They just can't do it.

I don't know about you, but if I were being paid to read blogs, I think I could manage to keep tabs on all the lefty blogs every day. I think I could bear that burden admirably.

But reporters? No, they just can't do it. It's too painful for them.

That says a lot about where they are politically. They're so liberal that they can't bear to read Michelle Malkin or Ann Coulter, even though they're being paid to do just that sort of thing.

Thanks to Joseph.

posted by Ace at 03:53 PM

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