Today’s Biased News Story

This one’s really astounding. The different ways in which the left v. right media covered this is amazing.

What Happened?

I was reading Allsides today, and there is a story about Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband. I’m not going to hash through the details because it is disturbing, and you can read it here if you’re interested.

Essentially, MSNBC praised the VP’s husband for “reshaping the perception of masculinity” by being a “very supportive spouse”.

Shortly after, the Daily Mail accused the VP’s husband of assaulting a woman back in 2012. In the same article here, the Daily Mail also reported about an affair by (VP’s husband) Doug Emhoff and an out of wedlock child.

Enough of That

Enough of the tabloid fodder. Isn’t this a financial site?

It is. I’m all about education. I want everyone to know about 401ks, mutual funds, credit cards, loans, car buying, and anything else I can think of to make us all smarter and better able to meet our financial goals. Closely akin to that is making sure folks are informed on other topics that are important. This set me down the trail of investigating media bias.

The more I read, the more shocked I became of how media outlets pander to their subscribers, telling them stories that support their point of view. While that’s to be somewhat expected, what I find more shocking is that these same outlets often decide to suppress stories that are contrary to that perspective.

Back to (VP Husband) Doug

So, far-right leaning Daily Mail posted the Doug stories prominently on their site. As expected, the right-leaning outlets jumped into the fracas and posted their own versions of the story.

I’m not surprised.

Here’s Where I’m Surprised

I’ll paste in exactly what Allsides found.

Allsides did not find coverage from the left.

My experience has been that Allsides does a pretty good job of looking. If they did not find it, it probably isn’t there.

Please Treat Me Like a Grown-Up

Regardless of how I lean politically, I would want to read all the info about the subject and make up my own mind. At a minimum, I would think it would be the responsible thing to at least report that “the Daily Mail has reported…”

Left-leaning outlets could still stand by their reporting that the VP’s husband has been a supportive spouse, but also point out these prior allegations.

What if I get all my news from MSNBC and I echo their sentiment that Doug has reshaped the perception of masculinity. Then one of the folks I mention this to asks me how I feel about the affair and child (which Doug has admitted, according to the Daily Mail). OOPS.

I look like an idiot.

Wrap-Up

It’s not about Doug.

First, the statement by MSNBC that “Doug has reshaped…” is a bold statement. It’s like when I told my wife I love Dave Grohl. I don’t actually love Dave. I’ve never met him.

He’s a kick-ass drummer. Listen to Smells Like Teen Spirit. Listen to it loud. I also like the Foo Fighter’s music. I’ve seen them live 3 or 4 or 5 times. I like that Dave didn’t cancel concerts when he broke his leg. He had a huge chair built that would allow him to drive around the stage. Pretty cool, but no, I don’t really love Dave.

And saying I love Dave bit me in the ass. Read more here.

I can be forgiven, because I’m not a real journalist – as my readers and my wife well know. But MSNBC and other news outlets should be held to a higher standard. They should be more precise with their words and they should do their homework thoroughly before making bold proclamations.

These same proclamations are very tough to back down from when new information comes to light. Once you’ve lauded Doug as reshaping, or Dave for being the nicest guy in rock n roll, it’s very hard to publish information that calls these proclamations into question.

But again, we should hold journalists to higher standards. And we should let our favorite publications know our feelings when they omit coverage.

I’ve recently discovered Allsides and Tangle. These are 2 news sites that I feel give me even coverage of all sides of an issue. Tangle publishes corrections often and they appear as the first item in their daily newsletter – not buried on page 16. I love this.

Let me know your thoughts.