There are several buzzwords that the Right uses when it comes to decisions they don’t agree with. We’re all familiar with “activist”, as in an “activist judge” when it comes to the Right losing a lawsuit, whereas when there is a decision that comes down on the Right’s side, they do nothing but praise the justices for their work (like the NRA’s espousing of the “historic ruling” by the US Supreme Court in Columbia v. Heller).
So take the recent article on the ABC News website about the “Delicate Path for Gay Marriage in Red States“. Mixed throughout the story are quite a few conservative terms/allusions. In the very first sentence, Evan Wolfson from the Freedom to Marry Coalition, is labeled an “activist”. And it’s not until the 9th paragraph that it’s even mentioned that Wolfson is from an official organization. Then it goes on to mention Wolfson is “forcing social change” on other states in the second paragraph. They even mention Wolfson several times, but don’t quote him at all until the end of the article – but they sure get quotes in from marriage equality opponents early on in the article.
The final straw, for me is this bit:
Wolfson’s group, Freedom to Marry, is scouring Oklahoma and Utah for same-sex couples who can put a human face on the new rights.
Scouring? Because what – there isn’t a single gay couple in Oklahoma or Utah that wants to get married? I think Wolfson has the couples that have brought the lawsuits which have ruled bans against marriage equality are unconstitutional. Sure, they may be looking to add to that list of couples, but they’re not having to “scour”.
It’s articles like this that really leave a dirty taste in my mouth for what passes as mainstream media reporting these days.
xpost: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/21/1271362/-The-Distinctive-Language-Of-Reporters