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April 30, 2006

Media Dishonesty Rears Its Ugly Head

I don't happen to be a believer in the whole "liberal media bias" charge constantly leveled by Republicans. I've seen just as much of what could be called "conservative media bias." I've concluded that media bias is a combination of laziness, deference to advertisers, and a desire to sell more newspapers (or win more viewers).

But every once in awhile, the combination of these three factors screams "liberal bias" to conservatives hungry for proof of their view of the media. The coverage of Rush Limbaugh's arrest yesterday was one of those cases.

Many news outlets (including the Washington Post) played up Rush's arrest without explaining that it was part of a deal that was actually a win for Rush. Take this one, for example: Rush Limbaugh arrested for prescription fraud:

Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on prescription drug charges, law enforcement officials said. Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant issued by the state attorney's office, said agency spokeswoman Teri Barbera. The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and was released an hour later on $3,000 bail, Barbera said. The warrant was for fraud to conceal information to obtain prescription, Barbera said.

That was the entire text of the story. Is it any wonder that when I first heard it, I thought he had been busted again? And I wasn't the only one. At least one blogger fell for it, posting: Extra! Extra! Rush busted again.

The LA Times, at least, said it like it is (perhaps they value their reputation a little more than other papers?):

Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh was booked on drug charges in Florida on Friday, and his lawyer said that Limbaugh had agreed to a deal enabling him to avoid prosecution in the prescription abuse case if he continued treatment for addiction problems and avoided any other run-ins with the law. … Black said that the deal with prosecutors called for the fraud charge to be dropped in 18 months if Limbaugh complied with all court guidelines, and that Limbaugh would pay $30,000 to defray the state's investigation costs and $30 a month for "supervision" of his treatment.

I certainly don't defend Rush's arrogance about drug use while he was himself a drug addict, nor do I defend the fact that his wealth enabled him to get off when others would have gone to prison. But when our press is dishonest with us on something like this, we have to wonder what else they're slanting – and why.

Posted by Becky at April 30, 2006 11:05 AM

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