It’s no secret that the mainstream media leans left. They support a liberal agenda and in recent years see themselves not as reporters of the news but as an active and important part of promoting an agenda.
The mainstream media picks and chooses what stories to cover, what to ignore and how to shape the narrative. Democrats alone care for the working man. Republicans don’t like women and minorities. These are false narratives of course, but they are repeated and reinforced so often that a considerable segment of the population buys into it.
Perhaps most disgraceful among the media story lines is the oft-repeated suggestion that conservatives are racists. Never mind that the U.S. Supreme Court justice who is arguably the most conservative member of the court is black. Forget that the executive director of one of America’s largest Tea Party organizations is black. Ignore the Republican Party’s role in ending slavery. Most certainly ignore the civil rights struggles against Democrats like George Wallace and the KKK history of Democratic icon, the late Senator Robert Byrd. None of those fit the narrative.
Instead, liberals hang out red herrings such as how requiring a registered voter to provide proper identification is racist. The NAACP filed a lawsuit a couple of years back suggesting a state requiring ID was racist and particularly unfair to blacks. When interested media showed up to cover the story at the annual NAACP convention … you guessed it … writers and reporters were required to show identification before they could enter.
This past weekend the 50th Anniversary of Selma, Alabama’s place in civil rights history was commemorated. Two U.S. presidents and early civil rights leaders were among the marchers and speakers. Yes, two U.S. presidents … but you wouldn’t know that from the large celebratory photo on the front page of the New York Times.
In their effort to shape the public’s perception of this important civil rights event, the New York Times page one photo managed to include Barack and Michelle Obama. Congressman John Lewis was right there. Even Al Sharpton appeared in the picture. The 43rd president of the United States and his wife however are nowhere to be seen.
Oh, they were in Selma. In fact they marched right along side the Obamas, John Lewis and others. But they weren’t in the photo. Why? The official word from the New York Times was that President George W. Bush was cropped out because his part of the photo was overexposed.
According to the New York Times, President Bush was too light to be included in the photo. Can you imagine if Barack Obama was omitted from a photo in a predominantly white crowd because the photographer decided he was “too dark?” The outcry would be overwhelming.
It stretches credibility to think that the New York Times photographer took only a couple photos at this historic gathering and that in both President Bush was too light.
Perhaps “too light” was just code. Perhaps they meant he was too white. That would be more in keeping with the narrative typically projected by the mainstream media.
Let the record reflect that despite his absence in the major media photos, conservative Mr. Bush honored Selma and its place in U.S. civil rights history this past weekend. Let the record further reflect that by any and every credible measure, race relations in the United States have deteriorated dramatically since Mr. Bush left office and Mr. Obama became president.
But don’t tell the New York Times.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.