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This is just a symptom. The underlying reality is that Democrats protect their miscreants because they can, and Republicans do not because they cannot get away with it.
And what determines who can get away with what in politics? "Objective" journalism, of course. And why do "objective" journalists who go pedal-to-the-metal on any allegation of Republican soft-pedal allegations of Democratic malfeasance? Because the business of journalism is

self-promotion,
promotion of those who support your own self-promotion, and
demotion of the reputations of anyone else.
That is why journalists call themselves and their colleagues "objective" with no basis in fact.
That is why journalists call others who promote criticism of the productive (but who don't have jobs in journalism) "liberal" or "progressive" (or whatever positive label they prefer).
And that is why journalists bushwhack and second guess businessmen, the military, and the police. And why journalists call anyone who thinks that
"It is not the critic who counts . . . the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena - Theodore Roosevelt
"partisan" or "conservative" or "right wing." With no basis in fact.
Humphrey: Two parties differ on handling scandals
Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 9/16/7 | Tom Humphrey

the media makes this a kind of popularity contest that has little to do with policy, leadership ability, management style or intellect. It’s about who can sling the most mud and make it stick. It’s entertainment, not seriousness. I doubt people are really thinking about what they’re going to get with their vote, otherwise we wouldn’t have had to suffer though the last Clinton administration.

The newspaper deadline is simply a version of "The show must go on." And the editor's rules, "If it bleeds, it leads," and "Man Bites Dog, not 'Dog Bites Man'" are also entertainment rules having no justification in respect to public policy issues. In fact the best way I've found to summarize what journalism is is by reference to what it is not. And what it is not, is an encyclopedia or a bible. Nor even a nonfiction book.
And that is the way to characterize the perspective of journalism - in comparison to the things that journalism systematically avoids, journalism is superficial. And to claim superior objectivity when you are actually systematically and for self-interested reasons purposefully superficial is also to be arrogant.

Half the truth is often a great lie. - Benjamin Franklin
Consequently, even proof that journalism was always accurate (snort!) would not constitute proof of objectivity.
The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing . . .
It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. - Adam Smith
The Contest For the Republican Presidential Nomination [Why Fred Thompson has a real chance to win] Rasmussen Reports ^ | September 19, 2007 | Douglas Schoen