Two, Two, Two Bias in One

A few hours after tpfp posted the press bias quote of the year (tpfp 2/17 5:51pm) Rush Limbaugh and blogger Ed Driscoll up the anti. BBC's story, covering speculation about Kerry's private affairs, included this admission from Washington Post London correspondent Glenn Frankel, a Pulitzer winner:

Nobody would be too shocked if Kerry lied about an affair. Even if someone came to us with photographs we still wouldn't run it.

Ok; an apparently straight-forward confession by a long-time journalist that (1) Kerry's a sleaze; but (2) the liberal media would spike any evidence of sleaze. Bad enough, right? As late-night TV ads say, but wait--there's more: the quote's been removed from the article and no longer appears in the web version.

In sum, a seasoned reporter admitted his bias and his sourced quote was included in a BBC story. Next, someone--probably a member of the Union of Media Blowhards and Liberals (meets daily noon-3:30 pm, Post Pub, 1422 L Street NW)--spotted a lapse by the Ministry of Truth (HQ, the Black Rock, 51 W. 52nd Street). Winston Smith was summoned; the old quote dropped into the memory hole; only white-washed deceit remains.

I prefer WaPo's admission of bias (see tpfp post 2/10 6:27pm) to BBC's airbrushing of bias. Unfortunately, we're stuck with both. All men are mortal; individual politicians rise and fall; ashes to ashes, dust to dust--but media bias endures.