FNC's Wallace Points Out WashPost's Headline Double Standard
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ryan-foley/2018/10/29/fncs-wallace-points-out-wapos-headline-double-standard
During Sunday's Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace contrasted front-page headlines from The Washington Post the day after Republican Congressman Steve Scalise was shot at an Alexandria, VA baseball field by a Bernie Sanders supporter with The Post's headline following the capture of mail bomb mastermind and Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc. Not surprisingly, The Post made sure to emphasize that Sayoc's political views were mentioned in the headline while the assailant's political leanings were not mentioned in the Scalise shooting headline.
The Sayoc headline read "Bomb Suspect Outspoken Supporter of Trump." Wallace said that the headline really surprised him as he expected the headline to read "Suspect Arrested." A closer inspection of the article finds that it does not even mention that Sayoc was the bombing suspect until the fourth paragraph.
Rather, the first three paragraphs read like a psychological profile of Sayoc, talking about his support for President Trump and all of the stickers on his van plus a quote from one of his former employers; who described him as "crazed."
On the other hand, the headline after the Scalise shooting read "Congressman Shot in Va," which clearly didn't mention shooter James Hodgkinson's support for Bernie Sanders. The front page article did not mention his support for Sanders but footnoted that his social media posts were "highly critical of President Trump and other Republican leaders."
On the other hand, the headline after the Scalise shooting read “Congressman Shot in Va,” which clearly didn't mention shooter James Hodgkinson's supporter for Bernie Sanders. The front page article did not mention his support for Sanders but footnoted that his social media posts were “highly critical of President Trump and other Republican leaders.”
Even an article from The Guardian written on the day of the Scalise shooting was able to point out Hodgkinson's political leanings. The Guardian article read: "Virginia Shooting: gunman was leftwing activist with record of domestic violence." Yet, The Post, which brands itself as a nonpartisan guardian of democracy, could not bear to mention at least that much in its headline.
Back to Fox News Sunday, The Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley remarked: "If you want to know why Trump won't give up Twitter and social media, that is why. That headline is why."
With just over a week to go until the midterm elections, it looks like the media have decided to join the Democrats in blaming President Trump for the wave of mail bombs targeting some of his strongest critics and highlighting the mail bomb suspect's support for the President. The media do not seem to care if they get exposed as hypocrites in the process. The headlines speak for themselves. . . .
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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