Suppression, Deception, Snobbery, and Bias by Ari Fleischer

Author:Ari Fleischer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-05-18T00:00:00+00:00

Eight years later, President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Like Kagan, Kavanaugh followed the decades-long practice of not answering questions about Supreme Court cases. But this time, the Times headline scoffed: “Kavanaugh Ducks Questions on Presidential Powers and Subpoenas.”

Source: Michael Shear, Adam Liptak, and Sheryl Stolberg, “Kavanaugh Ducks Questions on Presidential Powers and Subpoenas,” New York Times, September 5, 2018.

Democrats follow precedents. Republicans duck questions. Two very different headlines for two Supreme Court nominees saying essentially the same thing.

Beyond the wildly disparate headlines, a comparison of the Times articles reveals equally disparate word choices. Whereas the Times article about Kagan’s confirmation hearings uses softer language to explain how Kagan “deflected” questions and “declined” to say where she stood on a variety of issues,37 the Times article on Kavanaugh’s hearings utilizes harsher vocabulary to report that Kavanaugh “dodged” questions and that he “refused” to say where he stood on various matters.38 “Deflecting” is softer than “ducking” and “declining” is more polite than “refusing.”

This subtle (or not so subtle) change in word choice is anything but accidental. By choosing certain words, reporters can write a story to support one side’s point of view—or to oppose the other side. Word choice is a handy window into a reporter’s bias.

Every day, numerous stories in the Times make conservatives shake their heads, wondering why the paper makes so many mistakes, so often in ways that are derisive of Republicans, conservative thought, or Donald Trump. In June 2020, President Trump finished a speech to the graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As he left the stage, he walked noticeably slowly down a ramp.

The New York Times sprang into action.

“Trump’s Halting Walk Down Ramp Raises New Health Questions,” ran a Times headline.

It’s a good thing Trump didn’t actually fall.

But Joe Biden did.

In March 2021, seventy-eight-year-old Joe Biden, the oldest president in American history, fell three times while walking up the ramp to Air Force One.

The Times covered that story, too.

Source: New York Times, March 19, 2021.

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