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March 10, 2004
The AP Uncovers Liberal Media Bias -- at the AP!

John Kerry today stuck his foot squarely in the warm messy stuff today when he made an aside to a group of union workers while he thought he was off-mike:

"Let me tell you, we've just begun to fight," Kerry said. "We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary."

The AP's Mike Glover, who originally covered this remark, wrote this about the incident:

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Wednesday called for deeper tax cuts for the middle class than proposed by President Bush and described his Republican critics as "the most crooked ... lying group I've ever seen."

Contrast that passage with this passage in an article on the Kerry smear:

Earlier Wednesday in Chicago, Kerry toughened his comments about his GOP critics after a supporter urged him to take on Bush [emph. mine]. "Let me tell you, we've just begun to fight," Kerry said. "We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary."

Your confusion at this point may be excused; which story are we to believe? If you think it's confusing now, wait until you find out that both passages were published by the AP -- and written by the same reporter and appear in the same story! Mike Glover attempted to mitigate the damage to Kerry by changing the context of the quote in the lead paragraph, knowing that many people don't read much past that.

The AP needs to explain itself. Why are its political reporters taking it upon themselves to act as spin doctors for the Kerry campaign?

UPDATE: I've been informed by someone in the newspaper business that stories are often massaged by people other than the original reporter when the wire service updates them later, even though they retain the original by-line. It may not be the reporter's fault for any oddities in updated stories -- but of course, either way the wire service is responsible.

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at March 10, 2004 7:18 PM

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» Kerry Owes America An Apology from CALIFORNIA YANKEE
John Kerry went too far today, effectively accusing President Bush of corruption. In comments, caught on tape, Kerry had this exchange with union workers: "Keep smiling," one man said to him. Kerry responded, "Oh yeah, don't worry man. We're going [Read More]

Tracked on March 11, 2004 9:37 AM



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