Ever get the feeling you’re playing a game of Guess! That! Party!, when you read about a politician’s scandal and no party affiliation is given in the article?
The Associated Press institutionalized the method back in 2000 in its ‘Stylebook’. (http://alumni.imsa.edu/org/hadron/ap.pdf) The guidebook instructs that their reporters should only “include party affiliation if readers need it for understanding or are likely to be curious about what it is.”
Hat tip to NewsBusters:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2008/12/22/aps-novel-name-party-wrinkle-purging-dem-party-ids-original-local-report
The AP apparently believes that out of state people who read about a local politician, aren’t likely to be curious about his/her party. A good example is how the disgraced former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, a Democrat, was covered in AP stories. The news they picked up from the Columbus Dispatch, which did mention he was a Democrat, was omitted by the AP entirely. When Ohio Republicans got embroiled in scandals, the “R” word gets screamed in the headlines.
Hat tip to Ed Morrisey at Hot Air http://hotair.com/archives/2008/12/21/name-that-party-in-ohio/
When it comes to certain news outlets, if the party isn’t identified, it’s safe to assume they’re a Democrat.