News & Brews April 22, 2026
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‘When silence becomes policy at the Philly Inquirer’
Sometimes media bias appears in how media outlets cover stories. Other times it appears it which stories outlet cover—and, more importantly, which stories they ignore. Broad + Liberty CEO Terry Tracy writes that the Philadelphia Inquirer has adopted a pattern of silence in ignoring critical stories that may not reflect well on Democrats. For example, on Gov. Shapiro, other outlets have covered the missing emails related to the “taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlement involving former cabinet secretary Mike Vereb.” But, Tracy writes, the Inquirer has not. Further, “When State Treasurer and de facto Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity appeared last week with legislators and advocates to raise concerns about workplace misconduct involving young woman staffers and related transparency failures, the event met every standard for newsworthiness. Other outlets covered it. The Philadelphia Inquirer did not.” These are just a few examples of the editorial omission that has become functional policy at the paper.
ICE facility battle in Pa. ‘could take years to play out’
Spotlight PA reports that in his aim to use the state Department of Environmental Protection to block ICE detention centers in Pennsylvania, Gov. Shapiro is deploying an approach that “differs from those of several other states, which have filed lawsuits. And it also differs from the way the Department of Environmental Protection has used such orders in the past.” Per former DEP Secretary David Hess, this is the first time he has seen an administrative order “advise potential project developers in such detail about the requirements they must meet, without them having violated something first.” And the battle between ICE and DEP could drag on for years.
Shapiro’s chosen candidate in hot water in 7th CD
The four-way Democrat primary in the Lehigh Valley’s 7th congressional district has not been without its drama. In the latest news on candidate Bob Brooks—who has been endorsed by both Gov. Shapiro and the progressive Working Families Party (WFP)—Brooks is now on the defense related to old Facebook posts that have surfaced. In one pro-Second Amendment post, Brooks posited that the problem with gun violence isn’t guns but people’s hearts. And in another, he called former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick a “douchebag.” Now, Brooks is apologizing for the posts, while Shapiro and WFP are standing by their endorsements.
NDRC: From Pa. to Va.
Nearly ten years ago, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC)—founded by former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder with the purpose of redrawing congressional districts to benefit Democrats—backed the lawsuit to redraw Pennsylvania’s map to hand Dems more U.S. House seats. Since then, NDRC has directed national money into Pa. to continue to boost Democrats. Now, NDRC is praising yesterday’s vote in Virginia to redraw congressional maps to hand Democrats more seats. Indeed, while NDRC supposedly wants fair maps, Holder admitted that the Virginia effort was only about opposing Trump and Republicans, and Holder backed the Democrat gerrymander.
PGH thinks NFL draft is worth $19M in spending — Is it?
Reason notes, “If you believe the NFL and local authorities, hordes of football fans are about to descend on Pittsburgh from all over the country to spend gobs of money watching the NFL draft in person, forever altering the region’s economy for the better.” So they believe the $19 million in spending to bring the draft to the city is worth it. But, not so fast. Reason concludes, “Pittsburgh hosting the draft is costing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars (largely spent on marketing), likely won’t meet its overly optimistic attendance and economic impact projections, involves spending a secret amount of money on security, takes up hours and hours of law enforcement and city government staff time, and also keeps kids out of schools for three days.”