Alex D., State of Play post

I don't always expect major networks like CNN and Fox to give the complete side of political stories, only synopses with emphasis on certain points. Generally, unless the President or any other politician drops a complete cluster f-bomb, the media will generally show them in a favorable light. Criticism of Bush did not really start until late 2005 after his subpar response to Hurricane Katrina, so only time will tell if Obama screws something up equally. Also, the guests shown on opinion shows should also be taken with a grain of salt; after all, just because a crazy man has a spot on a talk show does not make him legitimate-- it just makes him a crazy man. If a show discusses a controversial topic, like school choice, the talking heads advocating certain sides usually have some financial interest at hand. After Glenn Beck's show lost a few cans from its six-pack, the only advertisers that would even touch him were shady companies like Cash4Gold. When that happened, Beck began promoting their services on the show and began talking about "stockpiling gold".

When Sonia's story first breaks, it seems that all the networks -- even C-SPAN-- focus on the sex scandal aspect rather than the explanation of why she threw herself in front of the train and her motives behind it. Whether her allegations about being pregnant with Collins's baby were true or not, it does not deserve to be the focus of every newspaper across the country. If I cared that much about what public figure was seen with which celebrity, I would have Gawker as my Firefox homepage.