South Dakota Politics

Argus Leader finally covers Russell Means' endorsement of Thune

The institutional bias of the Argus Leader can be readily observed today, under an AP report headlined "Means: Thune doesn't want my campaign help."

You can read the original AP story HERE.

The bias is not in the content of the piece, but the timing of its publication. The AL has a knack for immediately following up on AP reports that reflect negatively on John Thune, but completely ignoring AP stories that reflect positively on John Thune. When the AP reported Means' endorsement of Thune last February, the AL completely ignored it. This is selective bias at its finest

The AL has engaged in a similar pattern of bias with stories from Roll Call, the Capitol Hill publication. When Roll Call publishes stories that reflect negatively on John Thune, the AL reports the story the very next day. However, when Roll Call publishes stories reflecting negatively on Tom Daschle, the AL completely ignores them. For more on this pattern of institutional bias, click HERE, and to learn more about what I think is behind this bias, click HERE.

DVT has more.

I'm back

I'm back. Hopefully, I won't have to take the bar exam ever again.

As I anticipated, this week has been eventful. Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck offered a clarification of his "If Hitler were alive today, he'd be a blogger" comment. That comment made it around the world, and even the Wall Street Journal took notice.

Also, Tom Daschle has lamely declined John Thune's offer of having 66 joint appearances around the state over the next five weeks. I think Daschle has missed an opportunity here.

Quote of the Day

"If Hitler were alive today, he'd have his own blog." -- Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck in a column today headlined "Web log junkies welcome here."

DVT, Quentin Riggins, and Andrew Sullivan have more.

I'm off to Pierre to sit for the bar exam, which concludes on Wednesday. I really hate to have to be gone when it's shaping up to be a very interesting week. Don't forget to listen to South Dakota Public Radio tomorrow at 7:32 AM and 5:32 PM for a feature story on South Dakota blogs.

I'll be back to blogging on Thursday.