FOXNews.com, Chicago Sun-Times deleted connection between Ohio official, Bush campaign from AP story

In a November 30 article titled "Nearly a Month Later, Ohio Fight Goes On," detailing the controversy in Ohio over the results of the November 2 election, the Associated Press correctly identified J. Kenneth Blackwell -- who, as Ohio's secretary of state, oversees the election process -- as "a co-chairman of Bush's re-election campaign in Ohio." But two large news organizations, FOXNews.com and the Chicago Sun-Times, omitted that reference from their versions of the story.

From the November 30 AP story:

Blackwell, a Republican, has until Dec. 6 to certify the vote. The Green and Libertarian parties are raising money to pay for a recount that would be held once the results are certified.

[Reverend Jesse] Jackson said Blackwell, who along with other statewide GOP leaders was a co-chairman of Bush's re-election campaign in Ohio, should step down from overseeing the election process.

"You can't be chairman of the Bush campaign and then be the chief umpire in the seventh game of the World Series," Jackson said.

While versions of the AP article published on the websites of many news organizations nationwide included Blackwell's connection to the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign, FOXNews.com and the Chicago Sun-Times omitted the connection from their versions of the AP story, identifying the secretary of state only as a Republican.

The following news organizations included the reference to Blackwell's party identification and his role in the Bush campaign in their online reprints of the AP story: CNN, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, the Los Angles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the St Louis Post-Dispatch, the Houston Chronicle, The Guardian (UK), the San Jose Mercury News, The Boston Globe, and Newsday.

—O.W.