Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The ridiculous bias at Politifact Ohio

If you follow Sherrod Brown or any of his cohorts on Twitter, you hear a LOT from them about how Politifact Ohio has given several "Pants on Fire" verdicts to Josh Mandel. It's also the centerpiece of one of Brown's ads, (which also makes use of an anti-Semitic phrase against Mandel, who is Jewish.)


Politifact Ohio is a project of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Sherrod Brown is married to Connie Schultz, who used to be the paper's star columnist. (Until we caught her doing political work, that is.) So, any editorial work from the PD involving Brown was already slightly suspect.

But what Jason Hart from Media Trackers Ohio has discovered about Politifact Ohio is truly troubling.

Even though the Plain Dealer lists 21 journalists on the staff of Politifact Ohio, fully 3 of the "Pants on Fire" ratings have been written by Tom Feran. What kind of objective journalist is Tom Feran? From MTO:
In public posts to Twitter, PolitiFact Ohio fact checker and registered Democrat Tom Feran has expressed enthusiastic support for President Obama.


“Yes we did,” Feran tweeted on November 5, 2008. “I like the idea of Bush leaving early. It’s time to get the spectators off the field,” Feran tweeted later that month.

In work for PolitiFact Ohio, Obama voter Tom Feran has thrown cold water on criticism of Obama’s 2010 health care law both before and after the June 28 Supreme Court decision.

Feran’s personal Twitter feed, which contains several years’ worth of intermittent updates, reveals far-left reading interests:


What “says it all,” in Feran’s opinion? The preceding tweet links to a blog post titled, “The Cancer of Conservatism.”

The piece earning Tom Feran’s endorsement includes insights such as, “In short, the modern conservative movement’s leaders consist of those who despise working people, those who proudly defend America’s horrible racist legacy, the worst of the religious fanatics, and all those who wish to preserve America as an all-white, fundamentalist Christian patriarchy.”

Feran, who routinely writes about conservative political figures for PolitiFact Ohio, has described conservatives as “yahoos” and “wingnuts” on his personal Twitter account.
Just like Sherrod Brown, Tom Feran is also in love with the Occupy movement.
Feran has taken to Twitter with his complaints about “income inequality” – the primary complaint of socialist movement Occupy Wall Street – time and again, even expressing support for Occupy Austin in October 2011.
Tom Feran is clearly as left-wing as Sherrod Brown is, and has gleefully published articles singling out Josh Mandel to help Sherrod Brown stay in the Senate.

What's more, Hart also reports that there are four times as many Democrats as Republicans on the Politifact Ohio staff.

Tom Feran and the gang would have you believe that Josh Mandel tells six times as many lies as Sherrod Brown. Unless you're a 100% partisan, no one really believes that.

What the Plain Dealer has done here, is to analyze and cherry pick every word that Mandel says, but let Sherrod Brown's lies just go unreported.

For example, Sherrod Brown once said that extending employment benefits creates jobs. Not a peep about this from Politifact Ohio. But they gave Mandel a "Pants on Fire" for talking about what a huge tax increase Obamacare is.

Sherrod also said that "Everybody knows that government creates jobs". Did Politifact Ohio challenge his assertion that everybody believes this? Or talk to any economists who believe that government can actually create job growth?

Obviously not.

People generally expect a bit of liberal bias from big city newspapers. But the hack job that the Plain Dealer has perpetrated on Josh Mandel is beyond the normal expectation. This is gross example of pure biased reporting. Thanks to the work of Tom Feran in particular, calling any part of what Politifact Ohio does "journalism" is a sad and unfortunate joke.


17 comments:

  1. Journalism officially died during the 2008 campaign when most of the media went "all in" on Obama.

    They felt it was their duty to get him elected, and they feel it's their duty now to keep him in office.

    The Plain Dealer is just one small voice in the ear-shattering noise that comes from the MSM on a daily basis.

    As a former member of this former profession, I have long since mourned its passing.

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  2. Regardless of the facts, you kids cry foul. If the story doesn't go your way it's "biased". It's well known that the Plain Dealer is a Republican leaning newspaper. Now Sherrod Brown is a anti-semite. Nicky, I'm beginning to smell desperation.

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    1. It is well known that the Plain Dealer is a Republican leaning newspaper?

      Dumbest. Comment. Ever.

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    2. Yeah, in Northeast Ohio, where you don't live, it's well known. Standard Nicky juvenile put down. Why don't you just say, "Like...duh"?

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    3. Yeah, in Northeast Ohio, where you don't live

      LOL.

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    4. Thanks for making my point.

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    5. Thanks for making a fool of yourself. I've lived in NE Ohio for 22 years.

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    6. 22 years, huh? Probably how old you are.

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    7. way to make a serious argument anonymous - you are an idiot - you stupidly criticize Nick for talking about NE Ohio because he doesn't live there - then, when you find out you are stupid AND wrong, you criticize him for his age (which you don't know either) - what a tool

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  3. As of today Quinnipiac has Obama 10 points ahead in Ohio, Washington Post 8 points, Fox News 7 points, Ohio Newspaper Poll 5 points. Rasmussen, Nicky's favorite pollsters, have Obama at 1 point and claim the race is dead even. I suppose Rasmussen is the only unbiased polling organization.

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    1. anonymous - go do your homework, then come back and run your mouth when you know what you are talking about - the polling agencies you love so much are using a demographic profile from actual 2008 voters to adjust their polling data - if you think the demographics this year will be the same as they were in 2008, then you obviously have not been paying attention - but hey, if you think your man BO has it all wrapped up, then by all means, stay home and don't vote - after all, he is going to kill Romney without your vote - or you could educate yourself and see that Rasmussen is using a demographic profile somewhere between 2004 and 2008 which most serious pollsters think is more realistic - Oh, and Rasmussen also has the best record of accurately predicting election outcomes

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    2. I can't imagine Obama beats Romney in Ohio by ten points, after the state went so red in 2010. Anyone with half a brain knows that is not true. Also Obama killing the coal industry can't be good for him in southern Ohio.

      I know this, if Obama wins Ohio I am out of here because I don't want to be associated with so many losers who would reelect the ultimate loser.

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    3. That poll used a Dem +9 sample. So they are saying that Democrats are going to outnumber Republicans at the polls by even more than they did in 2008?

      Riiiiiight...

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  4. The Plain Dealer leans Republican???

    That is so absurd - I hope I can stop laughing sometime today. I think we just found a replacement for Jay Carney.

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  5. Great work here... Living in NEOhio I check Cleveland.com mostly for sports info, but there is always a "Politifact" attack on a Republican, mostly Mandell. They have been trashing him and never once question anything Sherrod Brown has done. I'm not sure there has ever been a negative politifact on him.

    Connie Schultz is still pulling the Strings over there and using her influence to crush her Husbands opponent. After the election I bet Connie is right back at the PD. Traditional media is owned by progressives, it's sad.

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  6. Amazing how it works, this article is posted making the liberal bias totally clear and appears on the Plain Dealer today? A Politifact calling something Brown did a lie.

    Good Work, keep the liars honest. I love it!

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