Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s associate publisher, Kenneth F. Bunting deserves high praise for his mea culpa in re: the lack of mainstream media coverage (including at his own paper) on RFK Jr.’s recent copiously detailed article in Rolling Stone on whether or not the 2004 Presidential Election was stolen.
His op/ed today is a breath of fresh air and a must read. A very few key excerpts are below.
More to the point, we’ll ask then, if Bunting might like to give a story such as the Busby/Bilbray stuff we’ve been reporting on the attention that it deserves before it becomes too late and the subject of a later “we shoulda reported on it back then” editorial.
Bunting’s posted email address is KenBunting@seattlepi.com. Mine is TheBradBlog@cville.com if you’d like to give it to him along with kudos for his piece. I’d be happy to speak with any and all media types about what’s going on here and help point them to where the bodies may well be buried…This story could very much use a bigger boat right now…
In terms of bad news judgment, this could turn out to be the 2006 equivalent of the infamous “Downing Street memo,” the London Times story that was initially greeted by the U.S. media with a collective yawn.
Kennedy’s 11,000-word article was Rolling Stone’s cover story, published on Thursday of last week.
But if you were looking in the five or six days afterward for follow-up stories, investigations or even a mention in the P-I, its cross-town competitor or just about any other major U.S. newspaper, you were almost certainly disappointed.
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for the most part, national and regional newspapers, the major networks and news services have behaved as if the article was never published, that it broke no new ground and there was nothing of interest or significance in it.
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It is news. It certainly deserves mention, at the very least in stories about the story, reaction to it or even ones debunking it. Any of those choices would be better judgment than simply ignoring it.
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It’s too early to tell whether it will become big news in the same delayed manner the British intelligence memo did. But the titans of the news industry still have things to learn about how news becomes news in the present-day media landscape.
…CONTACT…
Kenneth F. Bunting, Assoc. Publisher, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Email Address
(Hat tip John Gideon)
his last sentence, which is not quoted above, is simply astounding.
What did he mean by “But nowadays, the American discourse is rightfully in hands other than ours?”
Save us the apologetic editorials and just submit your resignation.
I’m certain this paper covered the insane ramblings of Ann Coulter. But the theft of this country’s presidential election is a non-story? And they claim it was a mistake?
Give me an F’ing break!
I’m sure as soon as Atrios and Kos give it front-page status, then the rest of the media will catch up. Hello, is this thing on?
Another post that didn’t go through – “No valid entry etc etc”:
“But nowadays, the American discourse is rightfully in hands other than ours?” I took it to be a nod to the blogoshere who have been covering this story.
This editorial also appeared in the Sacramento Bee last Sunday in their Forum section. That is there weekly editorial section where they expand beyond the one or two articles and letters to the editors which appear on weekdays.
It is the only mention, besides a letter to the editor today, of RFK jr.’s article which has appeared in the paper.
Pathetic for a paper that is supposed to be so “liberal”.