More Media Bias, Baby

Thursday, September 09, 2004

One of my favorite columnists, Michelle Malkin, is currently in the center of a controversial storm regarding internment and racial profiling. On her blog she points out how it's no coincidence that one San Francisco newspaper refers to her as a "right-wing pundit" while referring to Maureen Dowd as…well, Maureen Dowd.

But consider the titles of the two articles: "Right-wing pundit aims for left's center Backer of racial profiling to speak at UC" vs. "Behind the sweet smile is a steely-eyed writer. Maureen Dowd's an 'equal-opportunity skeptic'"

The former talks about a Left vs. Right issue, therefore it's appropriate to give Malkin the 'Right' label. Moreover, Malkin (unlike Coulter or Limbaugh) is not yet a name that registers with the majority of San Franciscans and the description "right-wing" is more of an eye-grabber. The latter article refers to one person; not a person against an ideological issue, therefore it's appropriate to use the person's name; a well-known columnist for the New York Times. Maybe it would have been more fair had the word 'writer' been replaced by 'liberal'. This would have been an easier issue to discuss had the articles been written by the same person.