Virginian Pilot and the AP shill for Obama; Provide a Direct Link to the Obama Campaign.

The Virginian ^ | 6/16/2008 | Moneyrunner

[moneyrunner]

Pravda was a beacon of journalistic truth and technical prowess compared with the Virginian Pilot

...let’s show two stories in today’s Virginian Pilot, one on McCain and the other on Obama.

The first story is about a McCain proposal:

McCain urges end to ban on offshore drilling.

It turns out that, according the David Espo, the AP writer:

The current ban on offshore drilling covers an estimated 80 percent of U.S. coastal waters.

It would seem unexceptional that more oil would reduce the price of gasoline. Why would we be asking the Saudis to increase production if not to reduce gas prices? Or is it the position of the Democrats that more Saudi oil will reduce gas prices while more American oil will not reduce gas prices?

But Espo refers to the proposal as a "perennial cause for controversy" and quotes an Obama supporter

McCain's "plan to simply drill our way out of our energy crisis is the same misguided approach backed by President Bush that has failed our families for too long and only serves to benefit the big oil companies."

The story then veers off into a totaly unrelated direction:

McCain made his remarks before leaving the Washington area for a pair of fundraisers in Dallas.

Another fundraising event, originally set for the home of Clayton Williams in Midland, Texas was pulled from the schedule after news organizations pressed the McCain campaign about holding an event with the 1990 Texas GOP gubernatorial candidate who once joked that women should give in while being raped.

The same issue of the Virginian Pilot contains an article on Barack Obama.

Gore endorses Obama and promises to help him

The AP writer, Nedra Pickler, begings with a paean to Al Gore, virtually nominating him to sainthood:

[moneyrunner]

The end of the story about Obama on the same day that Countrywide is shown to have multiple ties to high profile Democrat politicians tied to Obama, being endorsed by the Nobel Prize Winning, Academy Award winning, stolen election losing, ultra popular Al Gore, is a link to the Obama campaign! An invitation to make a contribution, thanks to a link in the PilotOnline.

[shibumi]

And this surprises you because.......?

[coffee260]

I was wondering, does this constitute an in kind contribution? Should the FCC know about this free advertisement? I wrote the public editor. The Pilot is my home paper as well. Here's what I wrote.

As a reader of The Virginian Pilot, my home town paper, I'd like to know if it's common practice for the paper to post web links to Presidential Candidates campaign website.

Because if such a practice has been adopted, I'd like to draw your attention to a discrepancy. While you included Obama's campaign web link in the article entitled, "Gore endorses Obama and promises to help him." An article on McCain entitled, "McCain urges end to ban on offshore drilling" has no such link.

Further more, I'd like to find out from the FCC if this web link, unsolicited I assume, constitutes an in-kind contribution, therefore requiring the The Virginian Pilot to declare such contribution to the FCC.

(An in-kind contribution is a non-cash input which can be given a cash value.)

I'll be looking into this matter. Feel free to contact me at the email included in this message. I look forward to hearing from the public editor and thank you for your time.

[presently no screen name]

Thank you!

[coffee260]

Oops! I goofed. I should have said FEC not FCC.

[Prole]

Don't forget that we are not authorized to copy and paste AP's nonsense onto our forums.

Americans will probably get dragged into court for exposing the AP's salivation over Obama.

[peeps36]

I'm so sick of hearing Berry Obomba try to paint McCain as the twin of president Bush. Doesn't the campaign of change have anything else to say? Maybe Berry could explain how he's going to pay for his big government plans, or how he will pull defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq? What is Berry's plan to deal with an Iraqi civil war and Iranian takeover of Iraq following the American pullout?

[moneyrunner]

Good job coffee.

Note that the way the AP frames the stories, It's McCain that has the “baggage” problem, not Obama.

It's amazing how you can lie without deviating from the facts.

[moneyrunner]

The Virginian Pilot’s endorsement of Obama and linking to his Internet site is not considered an “in-kind” contribution to his election campaign. If you go to the FEC website you will find that newspapers are exempt from rule that cover the rest of us.

Under the Act and FEC regulations, a media entity’s costs for carrying news stories, commentary and editorials are not considered “contributions” or “expenditures.” See 2 U.S.C. §431(9)(B)(i) and 11 CFR 100.73 and 100.132. This exemption, commonly known as the “news story exemption” or the “media exemption” now extends to media entities that cover or carry news stories, commentary and editorials on the Internet, including web sites or any other Internet or electronic publication. See also AOs 2005-16, 2004-7 and 2000-13.

In other words, things that are illegal for you and me and perfectly legal for the billionaire Batten family, owners of the Virginian Pilot.

For some reason I thought that the American Revolution abolished the aristocracy. I see that it has been re-established.

Bow to your masters.