Is the Jewish Exponent Hot for Big Al?
The Jewish Federation’s venerable weekly newspaper the Jewish Exponent hasn’t provided much coverage of the mayoral race this election season, but the little it has run seems to be favoring long-shot Republican candidate Al Taubenberger.
Asked by the Daily Examiner if this has been a prelude to the paper’s coming out for Big Al, an Exponent editorial staffer said the paper doesn’t openly endorse candidates and, further, that it offers equal coverage and has no political bias. The staffer then encouraged the Examiner to check out its “Politics” section for confirmation. We did.
First, when you do a search on the paper’s website for Democratic candidate Michael Nutter, no articles come up. Taubenberger shows up in two, one from February 15th announcing his candidacy, and another highlighting a meeting with Jewish community officials published August 23rd.
But by scrolling back through the “People and Politics” archives, you can find a post-primary story about Nutter from May 24th, with an odd, not-so-fast tone that could be the only instance of a media outlet even remotely portraying Taubenberger as a serious candidate:
“It’s a tall order for anyone, and Nutter hasn’t even been elected yet. He still has to face Republican Al Taubenberger in the November general election, though city Democrats hold a 5-to-1 advantage in voter affiliation.”
The Exponent also covered Nutter’s own recent visit with some Jewish organizations, but kicked it off with this friendly lede: “Offering somewhat vague promises about making city government more open and more willing to work with social service agencies, a confident Michael Nutter …”
The latest piece on Taubenberger is much sunnier, even going so far as to proactively forgive him for his staunch German heritage:
A fluent German speaker, Taubenberger has visited his ancestral homeland several times and said he reads and thinks a great deal about World War II and the Holocaust.
“What had happened in Germany during World War II is probably one of the darkest moments in humanity,” because Germany was such an advanced society culturally and intellectually, said Taubenberger.
If elected, Taubenberger said that he would sponsor cultural programming that will consider the relationship between Yiddish and the German language. Taubenberger also noted that he’d visited Israel in 1995 on an Israel Bonds mission led by then-City Controller Jonathan Saidel.
When asked for comment, the reporter who wrote all four of the Taubenberger and Nutter pieces, Bryan Schwartzman, directed calls to Exponent executive editor Jonathan Tobin, who’s on vacation.
Full Exponent Political Coverage [Jewish Exponent]
Photo: Jewish Exponent
