Crofton Online: Tabloid Media Watch
Motives, Ethics of Susan Baer Questioned as Media Assault on President Continues

Reporter for tabloid Baltimore Sun criticized

As reporter Susan Baer of the Baltimore Sun stepped up her politically motivated attacks on the President, her "ethically challenged" reporting techniques came under increasing fire, with one journalist calling for her outright dismissal from the Sun staff.

To help readers understand how Baer uses her craft to create false impressions in her attempt to accomplish her political goals, Crofton Online examined a typical Baer "news" article from this morning's Sun [August 23, 1998]. We have printed the full text of her article, side by side with an article one of our reporters wrote using the same techniques. The center column describes the techniques being used to possibly distort the truth. Both articles are factually correct, but both may unfairly mislead readers.

----------------------------- In both articles, the first headline is written in the passive voice. This enables the writer to completely avoid attributing the statement to anyone. If any one person questioned President Clinton's motives, the headline is true. If any one person questioned Ms. Baer's sexual practices, that headline is also true. But both can be completely misleading. In both articles, the second, smaller headline says that 'many wonder' about something. Many can mean almost anything. If more than one or two people wonder, then both headlines are true, but both can also be completely misleading. The same thing applies to the first paragraph in each of the articles. Both are factually correct, but both might be completely meaningless, due to the way they are written. We have no way of knowing. The second paragraph tells us that "pundits, politicians..." questioned the timing of the President's actions. Since none of these individuals are identified, we have no idea who they are. Still, the article is true if at least two individuals in each of these categories questioned the President's actions. The exact same thing is true of our reporter's article. Both articles are, again, factually correct. The third paragraph tells us what "most Americans" think. Since no source is given, the reader can only assume that the reporter is giving her impression of what most Americans think. The passive voice is again used to tell us that the President's "motives were immediately suspect..." Did "most Americans" really question his motives? Or does this mean that Ms. Baer questioned his motives? Ms. Baer's "sex life" was immediately brought up. By whom? By "most Americans"? Or by the reporter? We don't know, but both articles are still factually correct.

Baer's sexual practices questioned Many wonder if bizarre sex acts indicate mental instability by Jonathan Inskeep CROFTON ONLINE NATIONAL STAFF CROFTON - When reporter Susan Baer wrote her column on the U.S. air attacks on terrorists this past Sunday, she did not indicate anything about her sexual practices. But many people wondered if those practices were so bizarre that they influenced her reporting of this event. Pundits, politicians, the media, and at least a portion of the public questioned whether the reporter wrote her article, at least in part, with the hopes of shifting attention away from a discussion of what has been called, for lack of better words, her "kinky" sex life. Most Americans, including Republican leaders, appear to have no interest in Ms. Baer's sexual habits. But the fact that her sex life was immediately brought up suggests that perhaps her sexual habits are interfering with her ability to perform her job as a reporter.

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