Reader calls out CQ for dreadful "Latina woman" reporting
July 14, 2009 1:56 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
CQ rushes to join the Beltway pack by hyping the news that Judge Sonia Sotomayor used the now-infamous phrase "wise Latina woman" phrase many times. CQ assures us it's a very, very big deal:
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor delivered multiple speeches between 1994 and 2003 in which she suggested "a wise Latina woman" or "wise woman" judge might "reach a better conclusion" than a male judge.
We've been over this countless times, but every day the press simply proves our point over and over and over: the press refuses--categorically refuses--to note that Sotomayor made that remark in reference to sex and gender discrimination cases. She did not, as the press, including CQ, obediently claims, make a sweeping claim about the superiority of Latina judges vs. white males.
This "Latina woman" reporting really has become a stunning example of journalism malpractice. The only good news is that readers are now wise to it. Here's the very first comment posted under the CQ debacle:
Why didn't the author of this CQ piece tell his/her readers if Sotomayor was speaking about race and gender discrimination cases in these instances as well?
Do you love lack of context?
Couldn't have said it better myself.
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Gosh, the white, male majority in the Supreme Court apparently made a "better" decision in the Ricci case. The entire issue of judicial objectivity is BS. A wise judge acknowledges his or her potential biases and does his/her best to work around them and apply the law. These Repartisans are filtering things through their own biases, but failing to recognise those biases, therefore failing to set them aside.
This particular wise latina very correctly notes her subjectivity.
If the White House issued that statement, the press would have to confront it. Wimps.
But maybe the media aren't wise enough to figure that out. Maybe they aren't aware of the limits of their own ignorance. Maybe they just aren't smart enough for the job and we need to call them out by name to their employers, letting them know that these "reporters" or "journalists" aren't worth the paper their check is written on. To arms, my comrades! Make use of the MMA links to the corporations that employ these idiots.