‘Hand’ job in the Times
A good buddy and alert reader (of newspapers, not this website) sent me a maddeningly irrelevant New York Times story on hand-holding and asked if I could spot the evidence of liberal bias. Helpfully, he highlighted this paragraph:
Usually it connotes something innocuous and sweet about a couple and their relationship. In rare instances, it takes on added potency, such as when President George W. Bush held the hand of Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Crawford, Tex., last year — an act of respect and affection in Arab countries — reminding some people of the film “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which depicted the Bush family’s close business ties to Saudi leaders and which ignited conspiracy theories.
Yes, that does seem rather gratuitous in a style-section story about G-rated public displays of affection. But I fear that life in liberal New York has softened my tipster’s eye for bias.
Some examples he missed:
- References to Beatles, Justin Timberlake, and 50 Cent songs, but a conspicuous absence of lyrics by Big N Rich or Keith Urban.
- Sociology and “family relations and human sexuality” professors quoted as experts.
- Flagrant use of the words sex, gay and university in a family newspaper.
- No good news about Iraq.
Unconscionable.
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