Pastor with sex offender convictions prayed at Whatley rally

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Pastor with sex offender convictions prayed at Whatley rally?

Of the 53 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 43% are rated left, 46% are rated centre, 11% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 57. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.

Is Pastor with sex offender convictions prayed at Whatley rally left or right?

Neither side dominates it. Of the 53 rated outlets on this story, 43% are rated left, 46% are rated centre, 11% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.

Is the coverage of Pastor with sex offender convictions prayed at Whatley rally biased?

Pastor with sex offender convictions prayed at Whatley rally is one event reported by 57 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.

Which side is not reporting Pastor with sex offender convictions prayed at Whatley rally?

When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.

Which outlets covered Pastor with sex offender convictions prayed at Whatley rally?

57 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.

Who is Pastor Daimon L. King?

Pastor Daimon L. King is a registered sex offender with prior convictions involving children. He delivered the opening prayer at a rally for North Carolina GOP Senate nominee Michael Whatley. Records show he was convicted in 1998 and again in 2010 for offenses involving children and is required to register as a sex offender for life.

What was Michael Whatley's campaign's response to the incident?

Whatley's campaign stated that they did not know Pastor King and that the event was not planned or organised by the campaign. A spokesman for the campaign indicated that King had been invited by the Craven County Republican Party, which hosted the event.

Why is this incident significant for Michael Whatley's campaign?

The incident risks undermining Michael Whatley's campaign argument that his opponent is soft on crime. It could also be used by Democrats to highlight his association with another convicted sex offender, former GOP official Harvey L. West Jr., potentially impacting his support among hard-right conservatives.