Coloring the News

"America is at a demographic and public policy crossroads, a place where the dissemination of information about its changing national identity needs to be robust, knowledgeable and honest. But instead, an ongoing media crusade for diversity has made American journalism weaker, particularly on complex stories involving race, gay rights, feminism, affirmative action and immigration. Promoting a narrow orthodoxy that restricts debate while it affirms identity politics, this crusade has fostered a journalistic climate in which vital reporting is often skewed; facts that challenge a preconceived, pro-diversity script get short shrift; and double standards 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 controversial issue. McGowan presents a fascinating insider's analysis of how a well-intentioned attempt to accommodate minorities and minority viewpoints has been overtaken by political correctness, which determines what stories get reported in the "elite" media and how. Along the way he dissects how the press has "mistold" key stories including California's Proposition 209 vote, the allegedly "racist" burnings of black churches in the South, the military's ongoing problems with the integration of women and gays, and the consequences of a chaotic immigration policy."--BOOK JACKET.