December 5, 2007

McClatchy Newspapers/(Boise) Idaho Statesman

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WINGS OF JUSTICE AWARD WINNERS

 

It's not common for BuzzFlash to praise the mainstream media, but the McClatchy newspapers have provided about the only non-White House pabulum coverage of the Iraq War on a regular basis.

A few readers have nominated them on that basis, but we are presenting the Wings of Justice Award to them for continuing to pursue the lies and hypocrisy of Senator Larry Craig.

McClatchy owns the Boise Idaho Statesman. A newspaper doesn't take on a sitting U.S. Senator, even a weakened one, without support from its parent company.

The executive of the Idaho Statesman, Vicki Gowler, explained the newspaper's December 2 article about four identified-by-name men who have made highly credible claims of gay sexual encounters with Craig -- who has gone back on his commitment to resigning his Senate seat -- this way:

One of a newspaper's primary duties is to hold the powerful accountable and to give voice to the voiceless. Sen. Larry Craig's account of what happened in the men's restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport has changed -- whether or not he consulted an attorney, when he hired his attorney, whether he was handcuffed or not, where the piece of toilet paper was. His credibility also is in doubt because of his contradictory statements on whether he would resign.

Since his arrest and guilty plea for disorderly conduct, his statements that he has never had sex with a man, was never named in the 1982 congressional page scandal, didn't know the "signals" gay men use to solicit sex, and was a victim of profiling have been questioned by more men who contacted us to share their knowledge of the senator.

As with our August report, we didn't rush to print these stories. We've spent several months checking out the men's backgrounds and details of their accounts. We believe it's important for you to know what we've learned, and to hear the men's own words at IdahoStatesman.com.
In the current climate of a supine mainstream media, McClatchy and the Idaho Statesman appear, in this case, to know their duties and responsibilities are to hold those in power accountable. And that makes them rare indeed in this day and age of stenographic journalism.

For that reason, we are bestowing this week's BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award on the McClatchy Newspapers and the Idaho Statesman. They have reminded us of what it means to earn the public trust.

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Nominated by Donna Greene of Hyannis, MA.


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