Name That Party: Pa. 'Kids for Cash' Dem Judge Sentenced, No Party ID

August 11th, 2011 12:58 PM
About the only "good" thing you can say about the Associated Press's coverage of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella is that they have been consistent. That is, the wire service, led by reporter Michael Rubinkam, up to and including today, has consistently and disgracefully failed to tag the infamous "Kids for Cash" jurist and his judicial colleague in crime Michael Conahan as a…

Pa. Judge Whose Fate Is In Hands of Jury Not Tagged As Dem -- For Two

February 18th, 2011 12:39 AM
The fate of former Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Judge Mark Ciavarella is in the hands of a jury tonight. After an initial media slip-up that occurred and was quickly "corrected" when he and a fellow judge were indicted two years ago ("Un-Name That Party" proof here), Ciavarella's party affiliation (Democrat, natch) has gone virtually unmentioned. One such non-party-identifying example (…

Name That Party: AP and Pennsylvania Press Fail to ID Party of Third G

December 6th, 2009 9:10 AM
Well, you can't say they aren't consistent.Two brief AP dispatches from December 2 and December 3 about Michael Toole, a Pennsylvania judge who has agreed to plead guilty to corruption-related charges, fail to mention that Toole has at least been a contributor to the Democratic Party, and appears very likely to have been a party member.This see-no-party treatment parallels local media coverage…

AP Continues Trend of Failing to Identify Democrats Embroiled in Scand

September 11th, 2009 10:29 AM
On a day in which the AP found newsworthiness in scandals involving both Democrats and Republicans, only one party was expressly identified within the articles.  Can you guess which one?It is the grand AP tradition known as 'Name That Party' - a tradition which includes the following:Fraudster Hassan Nemazee, finance chair for Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.Money laundering mayors Peter Cammarano…

In PA Judges' Case, AP Goes For Dubious 'Name That Party' Record

September 10th, 2009 2:41 PM
Sadly, posts like this one about the continued refusal of the Associated Press to label disgraced and now-indicted Northeast Pennsylvania judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are starting to sound like a broken record. Fair enough, but someone has to track the record AP is apparently seeking, the one for "most failures to mention a Democratic Party affiliation after initially doing so."You…

AP's 'Name That Party' Twist: Disgraced PA Judges' Dem Party ID Disapp

February 14th, 2009 6:55 AM
This "Name That Party" situation has many of the usual elements. There are several stories about two Democratic judges involved in criminal behavior in Pennsylvania, and, with one exception, they "somehow" don't get around to identifying their party. But this saga is different for two reasons: The crimes to which the judges have pleaded guilty involve "thousands" of juveniles. In one lonely…