Fascinating but unsurprising read on emails from RW media re:Sanford story

[rvablue]

FROM TPM:

Great Call: In Emails To Sanford's Office, Right-Wing Media Dismissed Missing Gov Story
By Zachary Roth - July 14, 2009, 12:24PM

The State newspaper of South Carolina has used a public records request to obtain emails sent to and from Governor Mark Sanford's office during the hectic few days last month when he had gone missing. It's not surprising that the emails underline the utter confusion that beset the governor's hapless aides as they tried to ward off inquiries about their boss's whereabouts, without themselves having any idea where he was.

But they also show something even funnier: an effort by the right-wing media to curry favor with Sanford's office by dismissing the story as a storm in a teacup created by the liberal media. It's fair to say that, as news judgments go, it would be hard to find one that turned out worse than this -- given the subsequent revelations about Sanford's Argentinian liaison and his abandonment of his post.

Let's look at the details:

In an email to Sanford press secretary Joel Sawyer, Brendan Miniter, an editor of the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com, called out his own paper's first-day coverage (sub. req.) of the story, writing: "Someone at WSJ should be fired for today's story. Ridiculous."

THERE'S MORE GOOD STUFF AT THE LINK, INCLUDING AN EMAIL FROM "THE COLBERT REPORT":

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/great_call_in_emails_to_sanfords_office_right-wing.php

More here: http://www.thestate.com/local/story/862957.html