Commentary
The questionable headline accompanying a news story on the resignation of now former President of Harvard Claudine Gay caused a stir on social media the other day. The politicized headline was problematic not just because of what it said, but because it came from a wire service.
They’re the last outlets that should be suffering from left-wing media bias. Yet it’s happening.
“Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism,” was the headline from an Associated Press (AP) story. It was also used as the text of social media posts that linked to the story.
It’s an attempt to reframe the conversation so that what Claudine Gay said and did that led to her resignation is less concerning than the fact that conservatives wished to see her resign for what she did.
The bizarre wording also makes it at first seem as if plagiarism is the weapon that conservatives are using, when in fact it’s justifiable accusations of plagiarism that is the supposed weapon.
The whole implication is that having a problem with plagiarism is a bigger issue than plagiarism itself if the ones voicing concern are conservatives.
This is a clear-cut case of biased media coverage. That’s nothing new, though.
What makes this latest story particularly frustrating is that the AP is a wire service. Such services are supposed to do things a little differently than other outlets.
News outlets typically have an editorial position which fairly discloses their political viewpoint to their readers.
It’s no great revelation to say that The New York Times leans liberal and The Wall Street Journal is more conservative. Opinion columns in these publications are clearly marked as opinion. You know what you’re getting. As well, in-house journalists will tend to cover stories that are more of interest to their subscriber base, which will be more in line with their editorial position.
This is just how the industry works. And the industry has overwhelmingly more outlets that offer a liberal perspective over a conservative one.
But wire services don’t work this way. Or at least they shouldn’t.
The AP, Reuters, and, here in Canada, the Canadian Press (CP) don’t own any actual news publications. They are a content service that provides stories to other outlets.
Wire services are supposed to write the most basic stories that stick to the core facts of the news. That way they can provide content useful for publications with an editorial position that spans the political spectrum.
The stories that they provide should be basic write-ups of, say, what happened on the campaign trail that day or the latest quarterly jobs numbers.
But the Claudine Gay plagiarism story isn’t “bread and butter” reporting. It’s the opposite. It’s a story with a left-wing agenda and it comes with an incredibly torqued headline.
A Canadian Press story likewise pursued a slanted approach to its coverage in a recent profile of Liberal House leader Karina Gould. The story, which appeared in many of the outlets that purchase content from CP, was headlined: “This calm and cutting Liberal minister and mom is looking to give the Conservatives a ‘time out.’”
The general idea behind the story was that Gould is deftly juggling being effective as a politician while also being a dedicated mom who is taking on those troublesome Conservatives.
Why is there no glowing profile of the many Conservative female politicians who are holding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to account while also fulfilling parent duties? Why is the story written with the underlying assumption that Gould is justified in giving the Conservatives a “time out”?
Given how Trudeau is doing in the polls lately, the story could have been written from an angle criticizing Gould for being a defender of the PM despite the poll results.
The whole point, though, is that a wire story should have neither of those slants to it. It’s one thing for an opinion columnist, whatever their viewpoint, to take such an approach. Readers expect it.
We don’t expect it from reporting that should serve all perspectives. This trend is just another unfortunate sign of left-leaning bias undermining trust in media.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
