We’ve known since the Reagan years, at least – probably back to the Coolidge years, for that matter – that we can’t rely on the media to represent anything Republicans do honestly. In the Trump era, the legacy media has gone so far off the rails that we cannot rely on them to represent anyone to the right of Vyacheslav Molotov honestly. This has led, as we have seen, to an explosion of alternative media – you’re reading an example of such right now.
In the latest example, Ohio.news, an Ohio-based alternative media site, brings us the story of the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s dishonest and reprehensible cropping of a photo in which Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was signing SB1, Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, which prohibits Ohio public schools from using DEI practices in hiring or student admissions. The problem is, the Cleveland Plain Dealer cropped the photo of the event – deleting Republican Josh Williams, who happens to be black, from the photo.
Concerns of racial bias and prejudice in Ohio media are being raised once again, this time with the focus falling upon the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Ohio House Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Township, was sponsor the House version of SB1, Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, a bill Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law last month (above).
SB1 prohibits public schools of higher education in Ohio from promoting DEI or using DEI standards in student admissions or staff hiring considerations. Critics accuse the bill, among other things, of opening the door for racial unfairness and discrimination against minorities in Ohio.
Williams, a historic public servant in his own right as the first Black Republican elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 50 years, strongly disagrees and argues vigorously on the floor of the House and in public engagements against not only the use of DEI in higher education but against the way Democrats and others were framing SB1 on the political left in Ohio.
Here are the before and after images (click on the images to see the whole thing):
Josh Williams co-sponsored the bill in the Ohio House of Representatives; that’s why he was present at the signing.
Reactions from Ohio Republicans were, shall we say, spirited.
Williams noted, “This is just another example of fake news Main Stream Media changing the facts to fit their narrative in an attempt to lie to Ohioans. I was at that event, and for the Cleveland Plain Dealer to deliberately crop me out of the photo while using it to discuss the elimination of DEI in higher education is dishonest and manipulative. I call on them to issue a public apology and correction of the public record. Ohioans deserve the truth, not carefully edited propaganda.”
Rep. Beth Lear, R-Galena, asked: “Why would the left-leaning media let a little thing like the facts get in the way of their racist narrative?”
Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, demanded an apology. “The utter audacity to publicly discriminate against a Black lawmaker when discussing DEI is atrocious! Rep. Williams deserves a very public apology from the Cleveland Plain Dealer without delay and without excuse.”
Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, said the oversight was deliberate the media bias. “Legacy media is dying because they can’t resist the opportunity to spin reality. Cutting out Rep. Williams, who was an instrumental part of passing SB1, is a prime example of the never-ending spin.”
Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester, also called for an apology. “The action of The Cleveland Plain Dealer requires a public apology. Leftist outlets nationwide are more interested in their false narrative and fake news than the truth. I believe Ohioans can see through a narrative that does not promote unity but instead promotes a culture of separation and hate.”
This isn’t the first time a legacy media outlet has done precisely this kind of race-baiting.
From that story:
This, folks, is why we can no longer rely on the legacy media.
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For Republicans these days, reading or watching anything put out by the legacy media is about as much fun as an intussusception. This, we should note, goes far beyond media bias. There’s nothing wrong with bias in and of itself, as long as we’re open about it; I make no bones about my political opinions, for example. I’m not a purely objective reporter; I’m an advocate. The larger part of my purpose in my work is to present my take on the issues of the day and also to persuade readers.
But this act by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, just as the act by New York Magazine before it, is not bias. It is dishonesty. It is a deliberate misrepresentation of an event to stir up racial animus. This is journalistic malfeasance of the first water, and I would call on the Cleveland Plain Dealer to issue a correction, to publish the full, uncropped photograph, and to apologize to their readers. They lied to their readers, and they should own up to that.
They won’t, of course. Their purpose is served by this deception. And the leftist media has long ago abandoned any pretext of integrity in their reporting.
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