Should The AP Even Be Writing About The Wisconsin Unions?

I guess my real question is, if writers for the AP are members of a union (and I believe the News Media Guild represents about 1,000 AP journalists; do even more of them belong to the CWA?), should they not recuse themselves from writing stories about topics such as the Wisconsin Union Riots of 2011? Or if not, should there at least be a disclaimer that states "the following story is written by a union member", so people understand why they see stories with wording such as that used below? Loaded words are highlighted:

Wis. Assembly passes bill taking away union rights

Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure early Friday morning before sleep-deprived Democrats realized what was happening.

The vote ended three straight days of punishing debate in the Assembly. But the political standoff over the bill — and the monumental protests at the state Capitol against it — appear far from over.

Interesting note, made some 90-odd paragraphs later on the Dems "realizing what was happening":

Debate had gone on for 60 hours and 15 Democrats were still waiting to speak when the vote started around 1 a.m. Friday...Majority Leader Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, warned Democrats that they had been given 59 hours to be heard and Republicans were ready to vote.

So they were given all the time they were informed they would, and then an hour more. Abrupt? Hardly. Wear a watch, losers...

And were not the Republicans equally sleep-deprived? In order to win the vote, they too had to be present in the chamber at 1AM, no?

A more value-neutral version of this article could have been written thusly:

Wis. Assembly passes bill limiting bargaining power of public workers

Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to eliminate the ability of public unions to collectively bargain , passing the measure early Friday morning after over 60 hours of debate.

The vote ended three straight days of debate in the Assembly. But the political standoff over the bill, and the union protests at the state Capitol against it — which have shut schools, limited public service, and have been noticable for their violent rhetoric directed at both the Governor and the republican party- appear far from over.

But the AP has no intent to be value-free; they are exploiting their position as a ubiquitous media filler to use language and storylines that put the Republicans in the worst possible light, and simultaneously hider the truth about the nature of the crisis, the protests, and the protesters.

Just providing a public service here. But don't be surprised if you click the link and some of the verbiage has changed - I've noticed quite often that the AP articles I read at 6AM are often quite different when I re-read them at 8AM.

Some of the late-night union stringers for the AP trying to pull a fast propaganda ploy while the editors are asleep? Possibly. Maybe the AP ought to keep an eye on what goes on in the store at night, before the rats befoul the entire inventory...