Journalists Make Tribute to Mayor Daley :Media Critic Slams Fawning Media

The Huffington Post reports on the embarrassing video down below. Media critic Robert Feder says it all:

Excuse me while I throw up.

First of all, when did it become OK for television news people to appear in ads outside of those for their own employers? When did their stations abandon adherence to the standards and practices of their parent networks?

OK, I get that they’re not actually selling furniture in these commercials. But Walter E. Smithe is, by any measure, a major advertiser on Chicago television. The company has spent millions of dollars over the years marketing its brand and cleverly transforming owners/brothers Walter, Tim and Mark Smithe into local media icons. There’s nothing wrong with that.

But make no mistake: While Daley may be the subject of these particular spots, Walter E. Smithe is the beneficiary. Daley himself acknowledged as much when he told the Sun-Times that he appeared in them without compensation “to help these small businesses,” adding in his typical fractured syntax: “These are average people that are doing an entrepreneurship in business.”

Beyond that, the notion of journalists gushing about how much they’ll miss Daley is just plain wrong. Expressing respect, I suppose, is one thing. But publicly heaping praise on a politician and professing gratitude to the guy? What part of “unbiased reporting” don’t they understand?