Petrelis Files

NYT Omits Rolling Stone's
Wenner's Obama Donations

(Rolling Stone's openly gay owner Jann Wenner.)

This excerpt is from a March 3 story in the New York Times on US Weekly, headlined "After Ribbing Clinton, Fawning Over Obama":

Hillary Rodham Clinton is a fashion victim, but Barack Obama? Oh, he’s a good dancer, a cool dad, a regular guy who likes ice cream and chili, and who happens to be a pal of Bono and George Clooney even though he isn’t impressed by celebrity.

At least, that’s the view from Us Weekly. [...]

So with Mrs. Clinton’s campaign complaining that she gets grilled by the media and he gets hero worship, is Us Weekly’s treatment a case of media bias? [...]

Us Weekly is owned by Wenner Media, publisher of Rolling Stone, which published a profile of Mr. Obama last year but has not had an article about Mrs. Clinton in this campaign. Jann S. Wenner, the company’s chairman, and Rolling Stone opposed the Iraq war, and people close to Mr. Wenner say he soured on Mrs. Clinton when she voted to authorize the war.

Not only did he sour on her, he sweetened Obama's campaign war-chest wish cash infusions. What the Times omitted was mention of Wenner's $3,000 in donations to Obama in 2007:

OBAMA, BARACK (D) President OBAMA FOR AMERICA

$2,000 primary

10/24/07

OBAMA, BARACK (D) President OBAMA FOR AMERICA

$1,000 primary

05/08/07

Clinton and her team of media advisers aren't likely to see any favorable coverage on her in any of Wenner's publications in the near future. And the Times would have made a stronger argument for bias from US Weekly's owner, if it had reported on Wenner's FEC files.