The Washington Post Metro section headline seems to tell a story: “Virginia taxes yield $311 million surplus.”
Odd, though: Virginia’s legislators didn’t raise taxes; they cut spending. The article, thankfully, reveals this, reporting that there was “no general tax increase” and “hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts.”
But if you just read the headline and moved on, you might have been misled.
Later that day, CNN charges Congresswoman Michele Bachmann with “again” characterizing “a settlement to black farmers as fraud.” No explanation as to why. Then CNN presents John Boyd (or Dr. John Boyd?), president of the National Black Farmers Association.
Boyd denies all talk of fraud. “I just don’t understand why people like Ms. Bachmann … have continued to criticize this settlement,” he explains, before figuring it might be to “divide and conquer America.”
Rep. Bachmann is shown saying 94,000 people were given settlement money even though the census showed only 18,000 black farmers. But CNN avoids that obvious math problem. CNN also neglects the testimony of Jimmy Dismuke, a black farmer who claims the lawyers told potential plaintiffs that “if you had a potted plant, you can be a farmer.”
Then CNN anchor Kyra Phillips asks, “Do you feel that she’s racist?”
Boyd responds, “She’s going to have a hard time proving to America that she’s not racist if she continues to make these kinds of comments.”
Media folks are going to have trouble proving to America that they don’t slant the news.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.