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Most Americans probably assume that the First Amendment has locked in solid free speech and press rights for all eternity, but that has not always been the case nor may it be the case in the future. One of the most important under covered stories received some much-needed attention Thursday in The New York Times: the erosion of freedom of speech and the press around the world.
This is hardly breaking news, but the late Pastor Jerry Falwell was a really funny guy, by which I mean funny in terms of humor. Many of the obits mentioned this fact and also mentioned that a wide variety of people actually liked the man.
The other day, Mollie criticized The Washington Post for running a one-sided story about gay marriage in California. Today I say that there is more than one way to be one sided. Consider this Newsweek story from Lisa Miller:
In a recent post looking at how the media cover the debate surrounding same-sex marriage, commenter Michael had some intriguing thoughts about why the mainstream media struggle to cover opposition to same-sex marriage. he said that the press needs to do a better job of explaining opponents’ view that society would suffer if same-sex marriage were to be sanctioned.
Pause with me, for a moment, and consider the cutline on a photo that ran with the following New York Times story, written by reporter Michael Luo. Please remember that reporters hardly even write headline and cutlines.
The following is not taken from a news story. It’s part of a column from (wait for it) the San Francisco Chronicle. And, yes, we have crossed paths with this man’s work before.
I took a couple of weeks off from writing about the mainstream media’s overt advocacy for same-sex marriage in California. I was hoping that we’d see a bit more balance in the coverage. Alas, no. I don’t think journalists are even trying. Take, for instance, this Washington Post story from Ashley Surdin. Here’s her angle:
Roughly a quarter century ago, people — academic people — started paying serious attention to what were called “superchurches” or “megachurches.” The goal was to learn more about why some churches grew and others did not.
