Yesterday we told you about how the Associated Press featured Paul Sacker as a furloughed employee for the EPA who is suffering due to the atrocity brought on by the government shutdown. What the AP didn’t tell you was Sacker is also the president of the local American Federal Government Employees union in New York and is a partisan activist who appeared on NPR radio and wrote articles for local newspapers slamming congress for not making a deal with President Obama.
It turns out Mr. Sacker has a media operation any Kardashian would envy. Not only was he the poster child for government employee furloughs for the AP and NPR–he also gave an interview with New York’s CBS affiliate. Again, Mr. Sacker’s partisan affiliation with the government employee union was barely disclosed by CBS with a very small graphic at the bottom of the screen for a couple of seconds. The reporter on the story, Marcia Kramer, never mentioned the union affiliation in her narration.
Considering the fact that AFGE endorsed President Obama for reelection in 2012 and has been an influential fund-raiser as well as advocate for the Democratic party, it should be clear that Mr. Sacker’s direct affiliation as a boss for the government employee union should have been disclosed and identified in an appropriate way, so as to provide proper context to the viewers of the slanted report on the government shutdown.
Further, if CBS did not know or inquire about Mr. Slacker’s obvious agenda, they allowed themselves to be used for propaganda purposes. It’s clear that the government employee unions are using the media to push a narrative of the sympathetic, beleaguered government employees who are being exploited by the uncaring Republican-led House of Representatives. And it’s clear AP, NPR and CBS New York have allowed themselves to be used.
Watch the video here:
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