AP Distorting Facts To Push Political Agenda?

This caught my eye this morning.

Iowa councilman attacked at bar, politics blamed – AP elides facts of attack

Early Sunday morning, the Associated Press reported that an Iowa councilman was attacked at a bar and politics was to blame. Was Nancy Pelosi right; is today’s political rhetoric sparking violence among voters? If so, are Fox News, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to blame?

The premise is almost ludicrous, upon even a basic examination of the story, any journalist who would find Politics the primary motive for the attack, would also use the tagline, “knife causes convenience store robbery in Milton!” Dissimulating the facts, AP was able to fit the story into a context that worked for their pretext; conservative political rhetoric is promoting violence.

However, the local paper where AP located the report detailed the incident apolitically. The local paper did not reference any motive based upon reasons of political difference, but instead details only a disparaging comment made two years prior to the incident, and an uncle's wish to defend his niece.

Is the AP distorting news stories to push a political agenda?

Here's the original report in the Atlantic News Telegraph:

Atlantic City Councilman injured in bar fight

ATLANTIC - Atlantic First Ward City Councilman Kern Miller was seriously injured Friday night when he was apparently attacked in a downtown bar.

According to police, the incident happend at 6:48 p.m. when Miller was sitting in the Elbow Room bar discussing Nebraska football with two women. Apparently without warning he was grabbed around the neck by Ryan Dean Johnson, 48 of Atlantic, pulled off his seat beaten and punched in the face. Witnesses say that Johnson stated that he had wanted to do this for the last two years over something Miller may have said about his niece Katrina Martin. Miller and Martin had squared off two years ago in the race for the First Ward Council seat.

Neither Miller nor Johnson were reportedly intoxicated.

Miller was taken to Cass County Memorial Hospital and later transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha where he remained Saturday. Officials were not releasing the extent of his injuries.

Johnson has been charged with aggravated assault.

Here's the AP piece on the above original report.

Iowa councilman attacked at bar, politics blamed

ATLANTIC, Iowa (AP) - A city councilman in Iowa said a man who attacked him at a bar claimed it was retaliation for comments he made about the man's niece, a political opponent.

Kern Miller, a councilman in Atlantic, told KJAN-AM on Saturday that he and 49-year-old Ryan Dean Johnson were talking about football Friday before he was attacked. The councilman suffered a lacerated kidney and is recovering at a Nebraska hospital.

Miller said Johnson told him the attack was for what he said about Johnson's niece, whom Miller defeated in a City Council race two years ago. Miller said he doesn't recall what he may have said.

Johnson is charged with aggravated assault and free on $2,000 bond. A message left at a phone number listed for Johnson wasn't returned Saturday.

You decide.

Mod Edit: External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 20/9/2009 by Mirthful Me]

This is a bit if a tricky wicket. I mean, yeah, the article from the Atlantic News Telegraph states the story in an apolitical manner. And they are factually correct. If, however, the AP was also correct and the incident was based on political mud-slinging, then they are just as correct to publish it. My hesitation on saying the AP was faultless stems from the fact that adding the political dimension didn't really add anything to the story.

I would chalk this up to differant reporting styles.

I would be more inclined to agree with the OP's assertion IF the AP piece had broken the 2 men down into political parties. However from my point of view , the AP just asserted that politics could have been the initial ember that ignited this beating.

It seems to me that all this bickering about Fox News and Rush we have heard from the White House and other medias is a prelude to introducing the Fariness Doctrine.

Right now those the AP listed are powerful groups of people. They(the white house) need to ridicule and beat them down to the point where more and more people will agree with them and then they will have a path to pass leigislation to minimize their voice.

edit to delete a misquote.



[edit on 21-9-2009 by jd140]

reply to post by jd140


JD, I am not sure where you got the Glen Beck, Fox, and Rush reference. I just reread the AP piece to make sure I didn't miss something. Where'd you see that reference?

reply to post by rogerstigers


You are right, I mistook the first paragraph from the first article to be from the AP.

I edited it to show my mistake, the rest of my post stands.

reply to post by jd140


Fair enough. I agree with you (not common, I admit... ). I don't really care what people want to say, so long as they have the right to say it. A sign of maturity, as a person and as a culture, is to accept that other people can view the world in radically differant ways. I don't agree with radical left or radical right or radical mimes. I think they all deserve a chance to speak without filters, though.


EDIT:
Hah, sorry, I typed "radical mimes" as a spur of the moment piece of fluff, but then I realized I follwed that with "chance to speak" HA. Ok, bad punnage was totally unintentional. I will take my lashings with humilty.

[edit on 9-21-2009 by rogerstigers]

reply to post by rogerstigers


I don't watch or listen to any type of news anymore. Its gotten to the point where they use their programs to attack each other. Even the White House has joined in the bashing of Fox News.

To tell you the truth the Presidents latests decision to bash and avoid doing an interview on Fox has me interested in what they could be saying.

My grandpa told me a while ago that those who have nothing to hide, don't hide. I took Obama not going on that station as hiding. So now I am asking myself, why is he hiding?

Anyways, I'm waiting for the attacks to take the next step and see those with the power to try and silence those with less power. All this talk about racism by the left will give them a good platform to introduce the Fairness Doctrine.