Racism or an oversight?

If an alien crash landed in Creek County Oklahoma, it may not realize that Barack Obama is the president of America.

Why? Because The Sapulpa Daily Herald failed to report Barack Obama’s presidential victory.

Not giving Obama any presidential love angered some Creek County residents. They thought that their local paper should have given Obama press coverage and mentioned his victory.

Some residents have shared their own opinions of the missing coverage…dare I say it? Racism?

After the election, protesters stood in front of the Herald’s office to get answers from publisher Darren Sumner, who denied any racist claims. He said he would have done the same had McCain won.

Sumner also mentioned that his paper focuses more on local news since the Herald is a smaller paper with a circulation of 5,000 readers. The Herald only has an afternoon edition and most subscribers don’t get their paper until after 4 p.m.

Sumner believes the election was big news, but his readers don’t read his paper for big news. He said people got their presidential coverage from either the television or Internet.

Sumner’s response to not covering the presidential election is a contradiction.

Although he didn’t cover Obama’s victory, he did include a paragraph that the majority of Creek County voted for John McCain.

Could he not have added another paragraph about Obama’s victory? Did they run out of ink?

Although the paper is small, the presidential campaign is big enough to squeeze into any newspaper.

To outsiders, it appears the paper may have been upset with the results so they failed to comment.

The Obama voters of Creek County were entitled to at least a single paragraph. It’s not like we elect an African American president every four years. Regardless of the coverage Obama did not get, the good citizens of Creek County will need to accept their newly elected black president.