America is at a demographic and publicpolicy crossroads.
But just when information about its changingnational identity needs to be robust, knowledgeable and honest, theongoing media crusade for diversity has made American journalism weaker, particularly on complex stories involving race, gay rights,feminism, affirmative action and immigration. Encouraging anarrow orthodoxy that restricts debate and affirms identity politics,this crusade has fostered a journalistic climate in which importantreporting is often skewed; facts that call into question apreconceived, pro-diversity script get short shrift; and doublestandards that favor “oppressed” groups over others become the norm. This is the provocative argument that drives William McGowan’s Coloring the News,a brave, searching work that examines journalism’s most controversialissue. Depicting how a well-intentioned attempt to accommodateminorities and minority views has been infected by politicalcorrectness, McGowan gives a fascinating insider’s analysis of whatstories get reported in the “elite” media and how. Along the way hedissects how the press “mistold” California’s Proposition 209 vote, thealleged “racist” burnings of black churches in the south, themilitary’s ongoing problems with the integration of women and gays, theconsequences of a chaotic immigration policy, and other key stories.
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Willam McGowan