PRESS: Curb the AP bias
To the entire staff of the Coeur d’Alene Press:
How are the news articles on your “World/Nation” page chosen? I am concerned about the constant bias shown in these articles.
The articles for May 26 contain the following biased examples in a supposed news (not personal opinion) article: “When Biden emerged on Monday, he wore a face mask, in contrast to President Donald Trump, who has refused to cover his face as health officials suggest.”
Most directives suggest face masks if one cannot remain 6 feet away from others and be outside, which Biden was. Then Biden greeted other officials, “…both wearing face masks and standing a few feet away.” This smacks of first grade finger-pointing.
In reporting Trump’s activities on Memorial Day, more unrelated bias: “…while threatening to pull the Republican National Convention out of Charlotte in August…” The Brazilian president was “…willing to defend an unpopular idea — that shutting down the economy to control COVID-19 will ultimately cause more suffering than allowing the disease to run its course” — that this idea must always be “unpopular” is a leftist article of faith in this country.
The World/Nation page of May 27 contained another subjective article about Trump’s tweets: “Trump frequently amplifies misinformation, spreads abuse and uses his pulpit to personally attack private citizens and public figures alike.” I agree that the president sometimes tweets inappropriate things, but since the first day of his presidency, it has been very difficult for him to get unbiased coverage in the mainstream media.
An article on Wall Street claimed stocks were rising “… even as the nation’s official death toll from the coronavirus closed in on 100,000, a number President Donald Trump once predicted the country would never see.” These authors cannot resist getting their dig in at the president and his policies. If this is the most rational and objective world/national news you can provide, I rest my case as a conservative, certain that there is no objectivity in the mainstream media.
MIRIAM OWENS
Coeur d’Alene