Category — Media bias

Time and CNN, today, have jumped to defend the reputation of deceased anthrax researcher Bruce E. Ivins.  It is an interesting contrast to their anti-defendant, sensationalistic handling of similar, DNA-related “evidence” that the State of Texas seeks to use in prosecuting the men we might call the Eldorado Five.  Click on either headline shown here to read the full story.

You could argue, I suppose, that the public is more immediately threatened by the possiblity that the real anthrax killer is still at large than by constitutional violations by a small-time Texas judge in a CPS case.  Still, it’s interesting that the focus seems to be on exonerating Ivins, not discovering the identity of the real killer.

When KUTV-2 and decides to fan the flames of religious bigotry, they do it with gusto. This morning, Salt Lake’s Channel 2 prominently featured the story shown below, falsely implying that a Utah teen’s former association with the FLDS faith was a cause of his crime.  Later, the SLTrib chimed in him, labeling him an “FLDS Lost Boy.”  When it rains, it pours!

In fact, scratching ever so slightly below the surface, one notes that in addition to the fact that rape and murder are prohibited by the FLDS faith, the kid was nearly drunk enough when he committed crime to earn a lesser sentence. So, while the writer wants to say “this guy is a criminal because of his FLDS roots,” the causal relationship is exactly the opposite. If he were still faithful FLDS, he would never do such a thing.

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