Even though he has not yet begun his journalism studies at Indiana University, the second eldest PatriotNephewWest has shown a greater understanding of the way the news media works than does a college classmate of mine ensconced on the editorial page at the New York Times.

Now blogging on his eponymous site, this smart and insightful young man recently commented on that editor’s decision not to run an Op-Ed by John McCain because the presumptive Republican presidential nominee didn’t address U.S. policy toward Iraq the war the Times wanted him to. Mitchell, my nephew, wrote:

Whatever their [the Times'] policy is, it’s hard to give them the benefit of the doubt, when they already have a track record of liberal bias, for example giving Move On.org a $100,000 discount on the political ad they ran last September calling General David Petraeus “General Betray Us”.

Not only is he aware of the Times‘ bias, but he takes pleasure in taking on Chris Matthews for his.  Noting how the MSNBC host fawns on the presumptive Democratic nominee, my nephew is honest enough to highlight a moment when Matthews got “tough on Obama,” well, in this case an Obama surrogate.

Mitchell provides a great clip and I encourage you to watch it as Matthews pressed that surrogate, Texas state senator Kirk Watson, to identify an Obama legislative accomplishment. The Lone State Star state politician failed to do so.

In his post, my nephew both exposes Obama’s paucity of accomplishment and shows Matthews rare moment of objectivity.

A great blogger in the making. Let us hope he represents the future of journalism. It could really use a change from those smug reporters certain of their own detachment, convinced they can rise above their own partisan leanings.

At least Mitchell knows where he’s coming from. Journalism school will serve to develop his nascent talents. And his blog will provide a forum where readers outside Bloomington can become aware of his humor and his insight.