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Did the MSM drop the ball on John Edwards?
SFGate: Bronstein at Large ^ | 8/8/8 | Phil Bronstein

Posted on 08/08/2008 2:32:37 PM PDT by SmithL

John Edwards. There, I said it.

I guess it's too late to be dramatic, now that Edwards has talked to a MSM outlet (ABC) about his affair. I really meant to say something earlier, when almost every daily newspaper, including The Chronicle, was not touching a story broken by, gasp, the National Enquirer, but I was tied up.

Most MSM in general had stayed away, picking at it with their noses held, as if looking for something valuable in a moldy dumpster. Of course the New York (City) Times said they were "looking into it" but certainly not printing a story. Oh, no. On journalism sites, the finger-pointing, self-loathing, self-righteousness and tut-tutting was massive. Don't touch that dirty tale! Don't trust but verify! Why are we ignoring this?

It's the same old problem when the most scandalous of the tabs breaks an actual story. It happened a lot with Bill Clinton, and Edwards now seems a little Bill lite-like ("I had sex with that woman but she meant nothing to me." I'm sure Rielle Hunter feels as good as Monica Lewinsky did about that.) The perp is a little ashamed but leave it to the Mrs. to take the real humiliation hit.

As always, the most interesting thing (OK, to me) about this are the cultural currents and implications. Is it worse when a darling of progressives betrays you than if it's Newt Gingrich? Better? The same? Was there a conspiracy to out Edwards hatched in a political brain? Will the MSM ever figure out the journalistic etiquette following a big tabloid scoop? Does anyone really think that a story splashed in the tabs and debated on blogs like a powerful fire back draft is somehow...

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: edwards; ididnothavesex; johnedwards; mediabias; newsblackout; philbronstein; riellehunter
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Phil Bronstein is Executive Vice President & Editor-at-Large of the San Francisco Chronicle.
1 posted on 08/08/2008 2:32:37 PM PDT by SmithL
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For what it’s worth, Bronstein was once bitten by a Komodo Dragon and was married to Sharon Stone.


2 posted on 08/08/2008 2:33:06 PM PDT by SmithL (Drill Dammit!)
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To: SmithL

The MSM didn’t drop the ball, they hid it, or so they thought.


3 posted on 08/08/2008 2:35:00 PM PDT by AlphaOneAlpha
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To: SmithL

The MSM didn’t drop the ball, they hid it, or so they thought.


4 posted on 08/08/2008 2:35:05 PM PDT by AlphaOneAlpha
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To: SmithL

MSM shredded the ball and hoped no one noticed.


5 posted on 08/08/2008 2:35:29 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Huma for co-president! (it ain't over 'til it's over))
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To: SmithL

“For what it’s worth, Bronstein was once bitten by a Komodo Dragon and was married to Sharon Stone.”

Given a choice, I’d take the dragon.


6 posted on 08/08/2008 2:35:49 PM PDT by Spok (Whatever you say about McCain, it must be admitted that he's no B. Hussein Obama.)
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To: SmithL

How can the MSM drop a ball they don’t even touch?


7 posted on 08/08/2008 2:37:06 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or, are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: SmithL

They never had the ball....they never even showed up for the game.


8 posted on 08/08/2008 2:37:11 PM PDT by Coffee200am ("We should all be living in mud huts and riding bicycles to avoid killing the polar bears..."/s)
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To: SmithL
Wolf Blitzer, in full Clinton News network mode, just said "technically he did not lie because there were falsehoods in the national enquirer story"

Its like clinton all over again, someone even threw out the "this is old news" line. I wonder how long till someone mentions 100,000 new police and 20 million new jobs LOL.

9 posted on 08/08/2008 2:37:17 PM PDT by icwhatudo
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To: SmithL

Very dumb question (thread title). The answer is obvious.


10 posted on 08/08/2008 2:38:22 PM PDT by TruthWillWin
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To: SmithL

what still doesn’t make sense is if the affair is over and the kid isn’t his, why is he visiting the woman in a hotel room?


11 posted on 08/08/2008 2:38:44 PM PDT by sappy
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To: Spok

Don’t they both inject a load of lethal germs into your bloodstream?


12 posted on 08/08/2008 2:38:47 PM PDT by SargeK
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To: SmithL

I would think that someone from SF would be applauding Edward’s sexually indulgent behavior!


13 posted on 08/08/2008 2:38:59 PM PDT by the anti-liberal
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To: Vigilanteman
How can the MSM drop a ball they don’t even touch?

Precisely. They never had the ball in the first place.

14 posted on 08/08/2008 2:39:15 PM PDT by surely_you_jest ( Obamarrhoids are a pain in the ass . . . .)
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To: icwhatudo

Reportorial Bias? Nope, not here, not once, not ever. Time to move on.


15 posted on 08/08/2008 2:39:31 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Huma for co-president! (it ain't over 'til it's over))
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To: SmithL

Did the MSM drop the ball on John Edwards?

They did not drop the ball, they tried to hide the ball under the carpet.


16 posted on 08/08/2008 2:39:39 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (Obama: The presumptuous democratic nominee)
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To: SmithL
Does anyone remember the MSM’s reports of a possible affair between Senator McCain and Vicki Iseman? They went to press with hits of allegations of rumors. Is anyone surprised by the disparity in reporting anymore?
17 posted on 08/08/2008 2:40:44 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Whale oil: the renewable biofuel for the 21st century.)
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To: Jet Jaguar

If Edwards had been a Republican on the VP list, you can bet they’d be airing him more than ESPN and Brett Favre!
Well, maybe not THAT much...


18 posted on 08/08/2008 2:41:01 PM PDT by princess leah
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To: SmithL

Ha Ha Ha. Wasn’t going to the Komodo Dragon petting zoo his birthday gift from Sharon or something? What Morons we have telling us how to live our lives.


19 posted on 08/08/2008 2:41:16 PM PDT by nkycincinnatikid
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To: SmithL
MSM.....


20 posted on 08/08/2008 2:41:28 PM PDT by Coffee200am ("We should all be living in mud huts and riding bicycles to avoid killing the polar bears..."/s)
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