Air America Scandal coverage- Conspiracy or a case of nearsightedness?

The blogosphere is still busy talking about the Air America/Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club scandal. Other than a few media outlets like The Washington Times, Investor's Business Daily and The New York Sun, the story has gotten little or no coverage from the MSM.

Michelle Malkin notes the NY Times coverage-

Number of NY Times articles mentioning Air America since March 2004: 59

Number of NY Times articles mentioning the Air Enron scandal: 0(Via Nexis)

Captain Ed wrote yesterday-

And on the eighth day after the revelation about the financing scandal at Air America, the Exempt Media (or, as NY Times managing editor Bill Keller called it on Charlie Rose last night, the "quality media") remained silent. Not a word so far about the deceptive transfers of almost a million dollars in non-profit donations and government grant monies to the liberal radio netlet has appeared in any major media outlet except for the New York Post and the Washington Times, and two excellent articles at the New York Sun that showed how deep the scandal runs.

Some people think there is a conspiracy of silence on the left over this story. Others like James Joyner at OTB are more skeptical.

Is this a conspiracy of silence among the liberal media elite? Perhaps. More likely, the relative lack of attention is because virtually no one has heard of Air America. While Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo are reasonably famous in their own right, neither is on par with Limbaugh. Scandals involving the famous and powerful are simply more newsworthy than those involving lesser players.

I come closer to agreeing with James opinion than Michelle's or Ed's. In the past I've blogged about the bias in media more than once. Check here and here for two examples.

Why don't I believe in a conspiracy?

1- Too many people having to keep their mouths shut. It only happens in books or movies.

2- Much of the media is dependent on media outlets like AP and The New York Times. Look at Fox News, the supposedly Conservative News network. They get much of their material from The Times. To many media outlets if it don't come over the AP wire or out of the Times it isn't noteworthy.

3- Nearsightedness. I once before blogged about Columnist/Editorial Page Editor Randy Schultz at the Palm Beach Post. In spite of having two other major newspapers in the area, one in a county only miles from his home, this newspaper man didn't know a bit about a scandal involving a judge in Broward County. Do newspapermen only read their own papers?

4- The MSM just don't pay attention to media outlets they don't agree with. A great many people don't read publications or authors they disagree with. They've closed their minds off to anything but their own views. This goes for both conservatives and liberals. I subscribe to both The New Republic and National Review, read the Palm Beach Post editorial page daily and read Conservatives like Michelle Malkin and Captain Ed who I noted above. But does everyone?

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right. I'll let you decide.