Strange Story

So, I understand that most mainstream media outlets have something of a conflict bias: for example, Tim Geithner's tax problems and their impact on his candidacy, or his comments on China's currency, make bigger headlines than his experience at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. To some extent, that's as it should be--Geither's tax problems are very germane because he'll be overseeing the Internal Revenue Service, the Treasury Secretary's words on currency can move the markets, etc. But this story, about two candidates to head the FAA, struck me as a particularly odd example of the genre.

The story focuses on the fact that labor groups favor one candidate over the other. But it doesn't say why. One is an aide to Harry Reid, who advises the Senate Majority leader on transportation, among other issues. The other is a former president of the Air Line Pilots Association. But other than this one line--"Both men are regarded within Washington aviation circles as accomplished aviators and qualified to run the agency," there isn't a single actual sentence about substantive difference between the two on any issue germane to the agency today. Weird, especially given a) the magnitude of the aviation challenges the country faces, and b) the complexity of the transition to NextGen, personnel issues, etc.