As Media Matters mentioned earlier, today's WaPost put Glenn Beck's upcoming rally at the Lincoln Memorial on A1, with a long piece previewing the event, which may (or may not) draw 100,000 people. That's right, the rally hasn't even happened yet and the Post has declared it to be front-page news.
And with that, somewhere today there are anti-war activists smacking the palms of their hands against their foreheads.
Why? Because back in 2002, as the drums of war began to beat louder inside the Bush administration and inside the Beltway press corps, more than 100,000 anti-war protesters marched on Washington, D.C. to oppose the war. How did the hometown Post newspaper cover that larger-than-expected grassroots outpouring of progressive politics? The Post buried its anti-war rally in the Metro section.
The coverage was so lacking, the Post's ombudsman had to scold the newsroom:
Last Saturday, some 100,00 people, and possibly more, gathered in downtown Washington to prptest against possible U.S. military action against Iraq. The Post did not put the story on the front page Sunday. It put it halfway down the front page of the Metro section, with a couple of ho-hum photographs that captured the protesters' fringe elements.
Ombudsman Michael Getler concluded that, "Post editors, in my view, fumbled this one."
That's what happened when liberals rallied in Washington. But when conservatives rally? They haven't even shown up yet and the Post rushes to put their event on A1.
Behold your liberal media.