I am used to my local paper, Newsday, having a Greenout in its reporting on politics. I am not talking about the usual Greenout where they pretend there are no other candidates than the corporate Democratic/Republican candidate.  I am talking about where they report on another similarly situated candidate and give short shrift to the Green Party candidate.  For instance, Newsday reported on the Liberal Party County Executive candidate while it did not report on the similarly situated Green Party candidate despite having interviewed Green party officials.

Now it’s the AP‘s turn.  I am a little shocked that a national press syndicate would be so blatant.   In an AP article on the DC Shadow Representative election, the AP refused to even give the Green Party [notice the AP won’t even capitalize Green Party] candidate a name much less give her an equal paragraph to the Republican candidate.

Here is the pertinent section from the end (of course) of the article:

The winner of the Democratic primary on Sept. 14 will face two opponents in November: the green party candidate, a grandmother, and a Republican who is a retired congressional staff member. But three-quarters of the city’s registered voters are Democrats, so the other candidates are considered longshots.

“My chances are not good,” acknowledges Republican candidate Nelson Rimensnyder, who proposes making the district a territory, which he says would give it more rights, and creating a D.C. delegate to the Senate.

Four Reasons why the AP Greenout is Ridiculous

1. The Green Party is DC’s Second Party. The Green Party pulls more votes than the Republican Party in DC, so the Republican Party is the 3rd Party in DC.  Since when do you report on the 3rd Party candidate and no even give the name of the Second Party candidate?

2. The articles is all about statehood for DC, and the name of the GP in DC is the DC Statehood Green Party .  Here are the facts from a recent DC Statehood Green party press release:

The DC Statehood Green Party has been called “DC’s Second Party” after Statehood Greens drew more votes than Republicans in recent elections, including 2006, when the two parties each ran five candidates: 45,421 votes for Statehood Green candidates, 34,658 for Republicans.  In 2008, a presidential election year, Statehood Greens received 81,463 votes, Republicans 77,994 votes.

3. The media is not liberal, it’s corporate. If this contest included a Tea Party candidate, half the article would have been about him, but when it’s a Green Party candidate she doesn’t even have a name.  The Tea Party pushes the agenda of corporate power, while the Green Party has consistently worked to remove corporate money from politics.  Green Party candidates will not take corporate funds.  The consistent over-promotion of Tea Party activities while having a Greenout of Green Party candidates serves large corporate interests well.

4. It’s not that hard to find the name of the Green party candidate.  Heck, the press release announcing her run (along with her telephone number and email address) is even on this website (where we have no paid reporters or researchers on staff), not to mention the DC Statehood Green Party website:

Joyce Robinson Paul

Or the AP could have gone to her candidate page: http://www.statehood4dc.com/jrpaul

And if the AP wanted a more independent source, the first Google hit on her name turns up her candidate profile on the Washington Post from 2008:

Education

Howard University, sociology; graduated, George Washington University.

Offices and positions held

ANC commissioner, wards 2 and 5; president, vice pres., secretary, PTSA; Consumer Utility Board; chairman, vice chairman, Lincoln Westmoreland Tenants Association; president, vice pres., secretary, Parents United; vice chairman, City Wide Housing Coalition; secretary, National Federation and D.C. Association of Housing Counselors; secretary, Hanover Area Civic Association; member, North Capitol Collaborative Board.

Maybe if we got Destiny’s Child to ask, then they would print Joyce Robinson Paul’s name

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQgd6MccwZc]

Related Articles

• “DC’s 2nd Party” Convention & Statehood Green Party Candidate Forum 8/22/10 (www.onthewilderside.com)
• 7 DC Statehood Green Party candidates on 9/14/10 Primary Ballot (www.onthewilderside.com)

Filed under: 3rd party, congress, election, Election 2010, elections, grassroots democracy, Green Party, media, News, politics, US Politics Tagged: | 3rd Party, Associated Press, california, DC statehood, dc statehood green party, Democratic Party (United States), Google, green, Joyce Paul, Joyce Robinson Paul, Liberal Party, Local Parties and Branches, parties, politics, Primary election, Republican Party, Republican Party (United States), Second Party, united states, United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, washington dc, Washington Post