Sunday Crib Sheet: WaPo Under Fire, Mark Sanford To Fox

– The difference with which the Washington Post treated Marco Rubio and Barack Obama’s stories is fascinating:

The Post was much easier on Barack Obama when a biography by reporter Janny Scott revealed that Obama falsely claimed his mother’s insurer tried to deny health care coverage because of a “pre-existing condition.”

The 1,610-word Rubio story was on the front page, and the headline clearly implies Rubio is guilty of wrongdoing: “Marco Rubio’s compelling family story embellishes facts, documents show.” The Post‘s 486-word report on Obama’s mother’s health insurance was on page A-06 on July 15, with the headline: “Obama’s mother had health insurance, according to biography.”

Why is it news that Obama’s mom had health insurance? Oh, right: To help win a presidential election and pass his health care overhaul, Obama claimed that his mother’s insurer tried to not pay for her cancer treatments by claiming her cancer was a “pre-existing condition.” In fact, her insurer covered all medical treatments but denied her coverage for a “disability insurance policy” because that policy was picked up after she was diagnosed with cancer. (But no need to indicate in the headline that Obama fibbed.)

– Soledad O’Brien: “I never thought that I should not be emotionally connected to stories.”

– Fox hires disgraced former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford as a political contributor.

Mr. Sanford had been a rising star in his party before he admitted to having an affair with a lover he had met while on vacation in Argentina. He did so only after he disappeared for an assignation in Argentina without telling his staff where he went. In the process his staff created one of the great political punch lines of the year – and arguably since the Clinton scandal – by reporting that he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

– Interesting piece on copyright struggles between Getty and owners of mobile videos and images: “Who Gets The Copyright On The Photo Of A Beaten Gaddafi, Captured Off A Cameraphone.”

– Miami Herald vs. Washington Post over Marco Rubio.

– CNN set to interview Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. If one of the questions is not “Was Iran behind the thwarted terrorist assassination of a Saudi ambassador on US soil?” not a question, Fareed Zakaria should get the door. It does pose the question as to why we continue to give airtime and the consideration of influence to this tiny tyrant.