Pundits are already putting pencils to paper about who might be the Democrats' nominee for president in 2028 and how each might fare in media coverage. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore might be the next Obama model in the race, much like previous campaigns featured people posing like the new JFK, from Gary Hart to John Edwards.
Maxwell Tani, an alumnus of the leftist Daily Beast website, worried out loud about Moore in a story at Semafor that they headlined in an email "The Sinclair Sun vs. Wes Moore." Beware, Democrats: "Investigative journalists with The Baltimore Sun and the local TV station that shares the same owner are digging into Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's records -- and keeping their owner in the loop."
Liberals worry about non-liberal outlets investigating Democrats -- especially when the politicians make up details about their life story. Wait, that is the Obama model -- he made up a bunch of details in his memoir "Dreams From My Father."
One funny Tani line suggests the Sun only recently became opinionated, that it made a "transformation from a well-known, fairly old-school, by-the-book regional newspaper to a new, more ideological local media hybrid."
More ideological? A few days before Barack Obama became president, the Sun posted a story headlined "Obama Traces Lincoln Steps on Way to Presidency." In 2019, the Sun was the toast of the liberal media by attacking President Donald Trump as "vermin" after he claimed no one wanted to live in Baltimore. In 2021, Sun media reporter David Zurawik suggested Fox News should be removed from the White House press corps. "Let's take them on the word, let's not let them on the plane. You want to let Proud Boys on Air Force One, no, I don't think so. These guys are doing the same thing."
Tani relayed the governor doesn't like reporters poking around about his dishonest biography: "Moore's team has complained both publicly and privately that the investigation is needlessly hostile and politically motivated." Democrats are used to reporters who are politically motivated to support their election prospects, especially in deep-blue Maryland. A conservative paper in Baltimore is as undesirable as a conservative congressman in Maryland (Andy Harris).
In a statement to Semafor, Moore's team lamented the scrutiny from "ultra-wealthy, right-wing media owners using their platforms to put their fingers on the scale and protect their power while hiding behind the credibility of legacy institutions ... this is right wing propaganda wearing the masthead of a formerly trusted news brand." Once again, liberal is "trusted," conservative is "propaganda."
Then Tani suggested that while the Sun's focus on accountability is "legitimate," it's not original. Moore's biographical claims were "the subject of serious stories several years ago by The New York Times and CNN," so "they're following reporting broken by the mainstream media."
In August of 2024, the Times reported that Moore claimed to have received a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan, but he had not received the award. This came up at a very predictable time -- when Moore was being considered as a running mate for Kamala Harris. Liberal outlets break out their investigative reporting when Democrats are shopping negative information on other Democrats. Moore then succeeded in having a friend and mentor (Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel) push the Bronze Star paperwork again, so he obtained one -- for his next campaign.
In the last few months, Moore has performed interviews with CBS, CNN and NPR, but none are like those "Sinclair Sun" people who pester Moore about his mangled biography. Semafor must think of them as "old-school, by-the-book" mainstream media.
Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org.
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