I'm always amused at some of the reporters who work inside the beltway. Case in point:

Today AP published a story from economics writer 'Christopher S. Rugaber. The story was headlined "23 States Report Higher Unemployment In September."

In general, the story was accurate. But what amused me was paragraph 4. It reads:

"There were some bright spots: Ohio and Indiana. Two states hit hard by the downturn in manufacturing reported significant drops in unemployment."

Had Mr. Rugaber accessed an AP story from the Ohio wires published last week, he would have seen that the drop in Ohio's unemployment was caused not by an uptick in hiring, but rather an increase in the number of Ohioans who were leaving the job market because they could not find work!

Now, I don't think this is evidence of biased reporting. But, I've watched and listened as a number of the "newsscribes" in D.C. make absurd correlations in their stories which, with just a little research here, a google search there would show them their correlation was dead wrong.

Case in point: The night of the 2004 presidential elections. It was around 1 am and we were still waiting for Ohio to be called. I heard a CNN reporter say, "We're waiting for the precincts in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati to check in. And that would probably indicate that John Kerry will be picking up some votes..."

I wanted to throw my radio through the window. Anyone who knows Cincinnati knows that the northern suburbs have been a stronghold for Republicans. Now, today that area is a little more purple than it was, say, 20 years ago. And, no argument, the city of Cincinnati is a rather deep blue, politically speaking. But, those northern suburbs still are home to a good number of GOP votes.

Had the CNN reporter actually spoken with someone who worked in Cincinnati, they might have known that fact. But, again, I suspect it was no homework on the reporter's part, rather than bias.

Had Mr. Rugaber saw, for instance...Dayton's 12.0% unemployment rate, Montgomery and Miami County's 11 percent unemployment rate, Clinton County's almost 14 percent unemployment rate...and the same or similar rates in places such as Youngstown and Cleveland, (all of which were duly noted on the AP wires), he might have thought twice before suggesting Ohio's drop in unemployment (which amounted to, a few tenths of a percent) was a "bright spot".

Or, then again...maybe not.