NewsBusters executive editor Matthew Sheffield announced that he has been named managing editor of the Washington Examiner’s website. The press release on Sheffield’s appointment that he posted at NewsBusters describing his background is notable by its omission of the fact that all of the ventures he has been involved with are all linked to conservative activism. In fact, the word “conservative” appears nowhere in the press release, though it’s crucial to his employment history.
The Examiner already swings to the right with an exclusively conservative editorial page under Mark Tapscott and the hiring of former Washington Times reporters such as Bill Sammon, Rowan Scarborough and Susan Ferrechio to helm its political coverage. Another conservative activist, Mary Katherine Ham, formerly of Townhall.com, already works as the Examiner’s online editor. (We’ve detailed some of this.)
It looks like the Examiner is on its way to becoming the new Washington Times, in that its right-wing bias colors everything, including ostensibly “fair and balanced” news coverage.
Does Washington really need another slavishly right-wing newspaper operated by a billionaire with bottomless pockets to fund it? And does the Internet really need another slavishly right-wing website?