How is ‘witch hunt’ relevant to campaign?

Posted September 03, 2024 10:57 am

The editors of the Daily Herald assigned Russell Lissau to cover the Republican campaign of Tommy Hanson who is running for the U.S. 5th Congressional district. The result of his investigation appeared on Aug. 14 and was featured on the front page with the large headline “Wife of GOP congressional candidate aided by white supremacists,” followed by 36 column inches of additional material.

Mr. Lissau went on a “witch hunt” searching for something to discredit Mr. Hanson. He adopted the “smear” type of journalism that was practiced by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s but had been discredited. He chose to focus on the efforts of Mrs. Hanson, who lives in Tennessee and was seeking to become mayor. She disavowed any support from the extremists cited in the article. Why was this “witch hunt” article relevant and why should it have any bearing on an Illinois congressional race?

Gary Sheffert

Arlington Heights

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