It's the fault of minority journalists!

So goes the latest theory being embraced by conservatives as they toss darts at a board trying to come up with their official liberal media theory to explain John McCain's possible loss.

Former Bob Dole flack Douglas MacKinnon hypes the minority journalist theory in a recent liberal-media-bias essay posted online at the New York Times: 

The pressure within the news business to diversify and be politically correct means more minorities, women and young people are being hired. And young and ethnically diverse reporters and editors go easier on candidates who look more like them, are closer to their age or represent their ideal of a presidential candidate.

Ugh (as my palm hits my forehead). First, who exactly is doing all this news business hiring? In case MacKinnon hasn't heard, news orgs are desperately shedding thousands of jobs each month, which means there is no new flood of young, minority hires being made anywhere in the industry.

Second, the idea that minority journalists, and specifically African-Americans, boast a significant presence in newsrooms across the country and now dictate political coverage is absurd.

Third, even more comical is that notion that African-Americans dominate senior, decision-making positions within the press, and that's why it allegedly swooned for Obama.