Reuters ... Always The Unexpected

Lebanon sliding towards God knows what.

The UN saying civilian deaths in Iraq reached an all-time high in October.

Power changing polls in Washington.

Big news for sure ... but at Reuters, on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday the number one story is a little number headlined, Transvestite Killings on the Rise in Guatamala.

What makes this item fascinating to Reuters? In normal times, with normal media outlets, we might attribute it to the tawdry, prurient nature of the story. After all, if sex sells, shouldn't deviant and particularly disgusting sex sell all the more?

But this is Reuters and I think the editors had something else in mind when moving this story to the top of their list: This is a gay rights issue for them. Yes, these freak whores ought to be celebrated as vanguards of human achievement in Reuters-think. Oh yes, their deaths are especially tragic and worthy of extra attention.

Get your minds around the mindset evidenced by this example of Reuters' news priority, and everything else they do will begin to make sense.

Oh, and by the way, over at AP the #1 story this afternoon is Walters: O'Donnell-Ripa Feud Is Over. That's better!

Related Tags: Media, Media bias, MSM, Reuters, AP