Maryland

Broadcast Networks Ignore Democratic Legislator's Attempt to Silence Ravens Linebacker Who Spoke Out for Same-Sex Marriage
By Ken Shepherd | September 10, 2012 | 12:35 PM EDT

Suppose there were a Republican state legislator in Georgia, who also happens to also be an ordained Baptist minister, who sent a letter to the owner of the Atlanta Falcons -- on official state legislature letterhead no less -- demanding he keep his players from speaking out in favor of same-sex marriage. The media firestorm would be predictable.

Well, a Democratic state legislator from Maryland did send such a letter in late August to the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, and while there has been media coverage since the story broke in the middle of last week, it's mostly been in print and online sources. A search of Nexis found no reporting by the broadcast network newscasts on this controversy. The New York Times sports page covered the controversy yesterday, but reporter Adam Himmelsbach omitted Del. Emmett C. Burns's  party affiliation.

ABC, CBS, NBC Ignore Chick-fil-A Vandalism Incidents
By Paul Wilson | August 14, 2012 | 10:38 PM EDT

The broadcast networks complain loudly about real or perceived offenses committed by conservatives. But when they are faced with violence committed by those they agree with, they downplay or even bury such behavior. The silence of the networks regarding the vandalism of multiple Chick-fil-A restaurants is only the latest example of destruction committed by the left and ignored by the media.

Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy ran afoul of gay marriage advocates when he dared to praise “the biblical definition of the family unit” in an interview with the Baptist Press and declare in a radio interview: “I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’” The controversy his remarks sparked was intense; the media slammed him for his remarks.

WashPost Publishes Pro-Gun Control Letter to Editor That's Predicated on Falsehood About Federal Law
By Ken Shepherd | July 24, 2012 | 12:13 PM EDT

Updated (see bottom of post) | Today's Letters to the Editor section of the Washington Post contains five letters on the topic of gun control, three oriented towards more gun control and two expressing a pro-gun rights/enforce-the-laws-on-the-books position.

But one letter in particular is egregious as it contains a huge factual error that Post editors failed to correct: that President Obama signed legislation in 2009 that allows concealed carry in all National Parks.

WashPost: New Va. Laws Make State 'Less Hospitable' But New Md. Tax Hikes Merely 'Noticeable'
By Ken Shepherd | July 1, 2012 | 11:41 PM EDT

July 1 is traditionally the day when many new state laws take effect, and every year on or about that date, the Washington Post makes sure to inform its readers of some new laws hitting the books in Maryland and Virginia. This year, Marylanders are seeing tax increases, with residents of Montgomery County -- a significant portion of the Post's subscriber base -- disproportionately affected.

Yet in reporting on "A slew of new laws for Md., Va.," Post staffers Laura Vozzella and John Wagner buried infomation about the Old Line State's tax hikes. The first mention came in paragraph 4 out of the article's 34 paragraphs. What's more, Vozzella and Wagner dealt with Virginia's new laws first, meaning that more in-depth explanation of Maryland's tax increases only came 24 paragraphs into the article.

Washington Post and Baltimore Sun Repeat O'Malley Budget Cuts Deception
By Mark Newgent | February 26, 2012 | 2:09 PM EST

Since ascending to the head of the Democratic Governor’s Association last year, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has been fashioning a national profile for himself as a responsible fiscal steward of Maryland’s finances.   The Washington Post and Baltimore Sun are dutifully helping O’Malley perpetuate that fiction.

O’Malley released his fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget last month, which includes, among other taxes, an income tax hike for 20 percent of taxpayers to close a $1 billion structural deficit.

Echoing Governor O’Malley’s claim of record budget cuts, ($7.5 billion over six years), the Washington Post wrote:

WashPost Hails 'Ambitious' Md. Governor's Call for 'Tough Choices': Tax Hikes, Same-Sex Marriage
By Ken Shepherd | February 1, 2012 | 4:24 PM EST

The media may be busy trying to reelect Barack Obama, but it's never too early for them to start grooming the 2016 field. Look no further than the Washington Post, for example.

"O'Malley to set ambitious agenda," read the teaser headline posted this morning at the  Post's website. "Watch the Maryland governor deliver his sixth State of the State address now," read the caption beneath a photo showing Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley in front of two American flags. A few hours later, following the speech, an updated teaser headline reading "Gov. O'Malley calls for 'tough choices'" takes readers to an article about O'Malley's February 1 speech in which the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) chief "urged Maryland lawmakers to act on gay marriage, tax hikes."

WashPost: Legal Immigrants Are 'Unlikely Foes of Md. Dream Act'
By Ken Shepherd | November 28, 2011 | 6:12 PM EST

Does anyone have a dollar to lend the Washington Post? It needs to buy a clue, apparently, as it sees "legal immigrants" as the "Unlikely foes of Md. Dream Act," an in-state tuition bill for illegal immigrants that voters may toss out next November in a ballot initiative.

Here's how Post staffer Pamela Constable opened her November 28 story:

Name That Party: WaPo Leaves Out the D In Maryland Scandal
By Tim Graham | September 24, 2011 | 10:04 AM EDT

"Gay marriage" advocates are probably delighted, but The Washington Post once again can't find any place to put a troublesome "D" next to the name of a Maryland state delegate charged with theft. Aaron Davis reported:

A young Prince George's [County] politician who seemed to embody Maryland's crisis of conscience over approving same-sex marriage was charged Friday with stealing campaign funds, in part to pay for her wedding.

Annapolis Capital Editor Tries to Apologize for 'Mama and Mommy' Article, Coworkers Scuttle Column
By Ken Shepherd | May 20, 2011 | 3:18 PM EDT

Poynter Institute's Jim Romenesko wrote yesterday about how the editor of the Annapolis Capital sought to apologize to readers for a gauzy article about a lesbian couple that ran on Mother's Day.

Only his colleagues in the newsroom pressured him not to publish it, at least not in his original draft form:

 

WaPo Buries Opposition to Tuition Bill; Baltimore Sun Paints GOP Critic As Trying to Deny 'Rights' to Illegal Immigrants
By Ken Shepherd | May 11, 2011 | 11:24 AM EDT

Yesterday liberal Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) signed into law a measure allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities.

Covering the story today, the Washington Post offered this bland print edition headline on page B1: "O'Malley signs bill allowing immigrant tuition breaks."

The move "bucks trend in other states" and a "showdown with opponents is expected," subsequent subheadings trumpeted.

Yet staff writer Ann Marimow waited until paragraph 16 in her 23-paragraph article to get around to quoting one such opponent:

WaPo Inserts Bias in a Borders Bookstore Closing: Jonah Goldberg Not Selling?
By Tim Graham | April 18, 2011 | 7:27 AM EDT

The closing of Borders book stores isn’t that newsworthy, but The Washington Post on Monday somehow turned it into a celebration of how liberal books sell well (and conservative titles don’t) in blue Maryland. Reporters Larissa Roso and Michael Rosenwald began at a store at Rockville’s White Flint Mall:

Many shoppers, such as Francie Kranzberg, went straight for the political stuff: a copy of "Blowing Smoke: Why the Right Keeps Serving Up Whack-Job Fantasies About the Plot to Euthanize Grandma, Outlaw Christmas, and Turn Junior into a Raging Homosexual," by Michael Wolraich. "I’m looking for Keith Olbermann’s book, too," she said.

At the White Flint store, there were enough copies of Jonah Goldberg’s "Proud to Be Right" to supply at least a dozen book clubs. But there was only one copy of Walter Mondale’s autobiography, "The Good Fight: A Life in Liberal Politics."

WaPo Honors Maryland House Speaker for 'Evolving' on Gay Marriage, Censors Any Opposition
By Tim Graham | April 11, 2011 | 11:12 PM EDT

On February 24, Washington Post reporter John Wagner sympathetically covered leading Maryland Democrats (and Catholics) for crossing their hierarchy to lobby for "gay marriage" -- without seeming to contact this hierarchy. So when Wagner sympathetically profiled House Speaker Michael Busch -- again -- at the top of the April 11 Style section, the primary question was: How was this "news," a full month after the gay lobby failed to pass it? The headline was "A matter of conscience: Speaker Mike Busch found a new perspective for Maryland's same-sex marriage bill." It was considered an awakening of conscience that Speaker Busch wept:

Busch, whose hunched 6-foot-1 frame still bears witness to the standout running back he was at Temple University, retreated to his office at the side of the House chamber. He apologized for the bill’s failure to a few of its leading supporters. They thanked him for his efforts. And then another unusual event happened: With them, he cried.