Ideology and editing of wire stories

Remember that Reuters story I discussed yesterday, dealing with Boxgate? I wrote:

With this particular story, however, an editor would have to have an ideological agenda to purge the "boxgate" content from the story. So in most papers, the tax-cut bashing quote from the "Center on Budget and Policy Priorities" will probably be cut, but not the hillarous box sham.

Well, if anyone wants to see that ideology at work in the editing process, check out the Reuters story running on Forbes.com.

Compare the original Reuters piece:

Addressing employees at JS Logistics, a trucking and warehouse firm in St. Louis, Bush appealed to Congress to quickly pass his $674 billion tax cut package, including benefits for cash-strapped small businesses, "for the sake of economic vitality and growth."

"There's still uncertainty about the economic future of this country," Bush said. But he added: "I'm confident they (lawmakers) will hear the voices of the people ... to immediately get money in your pockets and into the economy."

Bush delivered his message in front of a fake wall of cardboard boxes stamped "Made in U.S.A." The real boxes, set to Bush's side, had their "Made in China" stamps blotted out.

The White House said it did not intend to cover up the markings on the boxes. "It appears it was an overzealous volunteer. We'll take it up with the appropriate channels," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.

Bush's tax cuts will be a tough sell.

Now check out Forbes' version:

Addressing employees at JS Logistics, a trucking and warehouse firm in St. Louis, Bush appealed to Congress to quickly pass his $674 billion tax cut package, including benefits for cash-strapped small businesses, "for the sake of economic vitality and growth."

"There's still uncertainty about the economic future of this country," Bush said, standing against a wall of cardboard boxes stamped "Made in U.S.A." But he added: "I'm confident they (lawmakers) will hear the voices of the people."

It will be a tough sell.

Not that anyone pretends that Forbes is a source of unbiased news, but it is an interesting case study in the machinations of media bias.

Posted January 23, 2003 08:31 AM | Comments (26)