by Kerry Dougherty
Every once in a while we get a delicious example of agenda-driven news coverage.
Last week, for instance.
On Thursday, headlines across the country gloated over news that Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons and his wife, Teresa had tested positive for COVID-19. Here, have a peek:
CNN: This Republican Governor Refused A Mask Mandate. Then He Got Covid.
AP: Missouri Governor, Opponent of Mandatory Masks, Has Covid-19.
Washington Post: Missouri’s Governor Has Refused to Mandate Masks. Now He Tested Positive…
Dripping with schadenfreude, aren’t they? Although they didn’t dare say it, the message clearly was, “We hope he dies. Would serve him right.”
Fast forward one day and these same media outlets learned that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife, Pam, had tested positive for COVID-19. Did those headlines point out that he is part of the mask mandate crowd?
Nope. Instead, there was a sudden return to old-fashioned straight-news headlines, free of Thursday’s value judgments:
CNN: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Tests Positive for Covid-19.
AP: Virginia Governor, Wife, Test Positive For Coronavirus
Washington Post: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and First Lady Test Positive For Coronavirus.
Someday members of the American media will be judged for their lazy coverage of this pandemic, their unquestioning support of shutdowns and the hysteria they ginned up with their shallow reporting.
Oh, look. Here’s something the major news outlets failed to include in their bland coverage of the Northams’ positive tests: Pam Northam visited a daycare center in Fredericksburg two days before she tested positive.
Parents there are understandably livid, because they have not been allowed inside the center since the start of school. This is to comply with strict COVID regulations for Virginia schools. Yet the First Lady was inside and was reportedly rubbing children’s heads during a demonstration involving balloons and static electricity.
There’s this, from Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star:
Shawn Calaman wonders why Virginia first lady Pamela Northam was allowed to tour the preschool his son attends when parents haven’t been able to enter the building since March, in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“I guess the photo opportunity was worth more than protecting our kids,” said Calaman, whose 3-year-old suffers from the aftermath of a respiratory viral infection. “I think the whole reason for her tour was just publicity and media attention.”
Calaman is right, of course. This was a photo op. Rules be damned.
It’s just the latest example of the bad judgment shown repeatedly by the Northams. Back in May, the governor pranced down the Virginia Beach boardwalk, leaning in for selfies with strangers after lecturing the rest of us about the importance of social distancing.
Now, at a time when parents are forbidden to step inside their own kids’ preschool classrooms, Pam Northam — incubating Covid — marched in and interacted with their kids.
Fortunately, young children are at low risk from COVID-19.
But this is just another item to add to a tedious list of public officials and their families — Lori Lightfoot and Nancy Pelosi’s hair salon escapades come to mind — endorsing onerous restrictions for the masses while doing whatever they please.
Let’s see if CNN, the AP and The Washington Post decide that the first lady’s ill-conceived preschool visit is worth covering.
Don’t hold your breath.
This column is republished with permission from Kerry: Unemployed & Unedited.
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