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Illinois Media Unspun: Deceit Goes On . . .
The Illinois Leader ^ | 10/8/2004 | Arlen Williams

Posted on 10/08/2004 1:54:01 PM PDT by unspun

Media critic Arlen Williams writes today that the press just can't seem to get it right when it comes to U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes . . .
OPINION -- A little mental background music, if you please. As you read this, you may recall Sonny & Cher's hit from the 60's. Don't forget the bass part as we adjust the wording a bit. . .
Deceit goes on,
Deceit goes on.
Press keeps pounding rhythm to the brain...

Way-arch-ultra---conservative, ah hah;
He wants you to carry a machine gun downtown.
Too mean to allow you wedded bliss, if you're gay.
Have-I-reminded-you-that-he's-from-out-of-state, today?

Got somethin' he calls "principles" - he just won't give;
He hates women; he wants their babes to live.
Says Jesus Christ wouldn't vote for O-ba-ma;
No, it's o-k to kill what's vi-a-ble . . .
...like an infant child outside his ma.

Deceit goes on, (bom bom bom, ba ba bom, ba bom bom - remember that base part)
Deceit goes on.

And to what lengths has the press gone in the last few days?

Let's take a look. La dee da dee dee... Hard to keep their groovin' tune out of your head? La dee da dee dah... That's the way it's supposed to be.

Exemplary Media Deceit, Selection #1

"Before touting reasons that Illinoisans should vote for him, a resident of Maryland, Keyes pushed for the re-election of President Bush." [Reporter: Linda N. Weller, of the Telegraph, an Alton paper, in her September 24 article, "Keyes strikes a moral chord in Alton speech."]

It is notable, I suppose, that Keyes is tirelessly campaigning for other Republican candidates and they for him. But Linda, Alan Keyes was an Illinois resident on September 24.

And is there anyone out who really needs to be reminded that Keyes is from Maryland, as we are reminded in nearly every news report of more than three paragraphs? Why, in central Illinois' Bloomington Pantagraph, an exposé documented the scandal that Keyes had been too busy to even get his Illinois driver's license yet. Shocking.

Exemplary Media Deceit, Selection #2:

"Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes told a crowd of Lisle college students Monday he favors two years of mandatory military service following high school for everyone without exception." in an October 5 "report" entitled, "Keyes wants mandatory military service," by reporter, er, "political writer" Eric Krol, of Chicagoand's Daily Herald.

Is that really what he said, Eric? According to the Keyes campaign, Keyes was asked a question about the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (the right to bear arms and the formation of militias). He responded that people should not fear the means of self defense and concluded:

I think that the best thing we could do for this society is just tell everybody, between the time you turn 18 and the time you turn 35 you will be asked to give 2 years to your country - it could take the form of military service, it could take the form of other service...

And it could be diplomatic service, it could be whatever you're going to be useful to your country at, but it would make it clear that citizenship is not just a lazy person's business, but that it involves not just the exercise of rights, but the exercise of one's responsible participation in the business of the country.

Was this intentional Mr. Krol, or is journalism just a lazy person's business at the Daily Herald?

Exemplary Media Deceit, Selection #3:

A Sun-Times article by Gary Wisby "Candidate Keyes crashes GOP dinner party" relayed Wisby's take on what happened last Sunday night in Chicago's northern posh suburbs:

"Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes wasn't invited to speak Sunday at a dinner sponsored by the New Trier Township Republican Organization, but he showed up anyway."

Gasp!

"Crashes?"

Keyes, a Republican, bought a ticket and attended a dinner open to Republicans. He was not asked to speak. He did not speak. Now there's a story, eh?

Nevertheless, this occurrence of "party crashing" was twisted until it screamed through the airwaves of the broadcast media.

Funny deceptive examples abound.

This Thursday, reporter Kristen McQueary put out one article for the Sun-Times entitled, "Poll suggests Keyes failing at painting Obama as extreme," and another for the Southtown called, "Illinoisans don't like Alan Keyes."

Kristen, if you and your colleagues of communal thought are spending all your time marginalizing Keyes, how do you think anyone will learn how extremely leftist Barack Obama is?

(I know, I know, that's the point.) And here I thought it was journalists' responsibility to report candidates' positions.

Is it too extreme to call these examples "deceit?" Oh, standards for jury trials notwithstanding, let us not make it more difficult than it is to read the writer as he implicates himself. Let us call this deceit - at least until noticeable corrections are published.

Where you see such examples of bias, do ask mediateers to correct themselves. Maybe the newspapers are saving corrections of Keyes reports for a special pull-out section on November 3.

Until then, the press keeps pounding . . . and deceit goes on . . .

© 2004 IllinoisLeader.com -- all rights reserved

________

What are your thoughts concerning the issues raised in this commentary? Write a letter to the editor at letters@illinoisleader.com, and include your name and town.


TOPICS: Local News; Military/Veterans; Music/Entertainment; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: alankeyes; keyes; media; unspun
ah hah
1 posted on 10/08/2004 1:54:01 PM PDT by unspun
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To: Chi-townChief
c-tc, would you like to do me the pinging honors this time, if you care to? (There is not "Illinois" topic, in the blog, etc. forum, it seems.)
2 posted on 10/08/2004 1:55:59 PM PDT by unspun (RU working your precinct, churchmembers, etc. 4 good votes? | Not "Unspun w/ AnnaZ" but I appreciate)
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I guess not.
3 posted on 10/10/2004 3:57:38 PM PDT by unspun (RU working your precinct, churchmembers, etc. 4 good votes? | Not "Unspun w/ AnnaZ" but I appreciate)
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