ABC Chicago Ignores GOP Candidates from IL-02 Race Coverage

Saturday, ABC Chicago inaccurately reported fifteen of the 22 democratic candidates** took part in a candidate forum for the 2nd congressional district special election to replace former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. 

Here is ABC’s Coverage:

So what’s the problem?

For starters there are not 22 democratic candidates in the race. There are 17. There are 22 total candidates, five of whom are Republican. 

Why would ABC completely fail to mention that two of the five Republican candidates, Paul McKinley and Dr. Eric Wallace who have most consistently attended candidate forums across the district, also participated in the forum? 

McKinley received one of the largest rounds of applause from the south-suburban residents after boldly declaring that he is “running against the machine [Chicago].”

At the forum I spoke with some of the Republican and Democrat candidates regarding the inaccurate coverage of the race on the part of the Chicago media. Democrat Candidate’s Larry Pickens and Patrick Brutus told Breitbart News that media coverage for their candidacy as democrats has also not received fair coverage from “mainstream media” outlets.

“I think the media focuses in on the people who they think are the stronger candidates, but they don’t really give the people an opportunity to hear about some of the lesser known candidates such as myself,” Pickens said, “So I think it’s import that there are alternatives available so that the public can know that we have some other people who have some ideas and viable candidacies and we need to be considered.”

Republican Dr. Eric Wallace concurred. When asked whether or not any of the “mainstream press” in Chicago has reached out to him to find out what he is offering the second district as a republican alternative to the “norm,” Wallace said, “I haven’t heard a word. They’d rather talk to Mel Reynolds [convicted child-sex-offender] than to talk to the Republicans, so what does that tell you?”

ABC Chicago and the other local “mainstream media,” as previously reported by Breitbart News–presents a glaring example of how the media can play a major roll in affecting the outcome of local primary and general election by selectively choosing their candidates of choice to offer coverage, while conveying the perception that there is no alternative. 

This willful omission and insistence that the winner of the race will be a well established democrat as a foregone conclusion, only contributes to that eventual outcome.

Breitbart News has inquired with ABC Chicago’s General Manager regarding this and the previously unbalanced coverage of the race.

**UPDATE: ABC’s Station Manager Jamie Nicholas responded to Breitbart News’ inquiry, stating that their failure to accurately report the field of candidates at the forum included two Republicans was a “mistake.”

ABC 7 changed their post by dropping the modifying adjective “democrat” to the word “candidates,” reflecting that “15 of the 22 candidates” attended the forum, rather than modifying the post to show that two of the candidates in attendance were, in fact, Republican.