When you hang around these parts, it’s easy to assume that most people are aware of what a blatant bigot Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King is. More honest outlets, such as Daily Kos, often derided as “liberal” or “left-wing” by some, tend to give real weight to white supremacist statements made by elected officials, such as King’s curious musings about why and when the concept of white supremacy became “offensive.” After all, it’s important to hold elected officials accountable for what they say and do.
Around the same time that Rep. King was practicing his neo-KKK oratory skills, newly elected Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan made a statement that referred to Donald Trump as a “motherfucker.” The statement was relevant, as she and other Democrats were elected to attack the blatant corruption in the current government—including with the possible impeachment of President Trump.
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A lot of hand-wringing ensued on both sides about both statements. The fact that traditional media outlets covered both King’s racism and Tlaib’s use of the word “motherfucker” is not a surprise, nor is it wrong. Both stories, after all, are newsworthy. But it turns out that both stories weren’t covered at the same rate. In fact, Media Matters reports that Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s curse word received about five times more news coverage than Rep. Steve King’s white supremacist lament.
According to the media watchdog, CNN spent 14 minutes and 42 seconds covering King’s remarks, and dedicated over an hour’s worth of discussion to Rep. Tlaib’s expletive. According to the study, MSNBC spent around over twice as much time debating whether or not Trump is an impeachable motherfucker when compared to discussion about how much of a goddamn nightmare the racist King is. Finally, Fox News predictably dedicated nearly an hour to fearmongering about Tlaib’s plot to steal Jesus out of American homes, while spending not even a full minute on King’s most recent bigotry.
The traditional media, in an attempt to manufacture the illusion of “objectivity,” has pretended for many decades to be centrist in its political approach. One of the more obvious ways it does this is by always offering up a “both sides” analysis of news events. This approach is fundamentally conservative by nature, in that it tends to protect the establishment from actual popular opinions and facts. But the harsh reality is that the traditional media isn’t centrist: It’s conservative and leans to the right.
After King’s and Tlaib’s comments, news outlets made a point of finding out every Democratic representative’s opinion on the use of the word “motherfucker,” while occasionally following up with Republican representatives about having a high-ranking Republican embrace white supremacy. The coverage of Tlaib also shows the inherent sexism and Islamophobia baked into the fabric of these institutions. You don’t have to look far to see the difference in how white guys using foul language are treated.
The standard argument is that in trying to generate profits, mainstream media is simply engaging in sensationalism. As a result, it’s argued, the traditional media isn’t technically conservative; it’s just compromised by its need to make money. However, the fact remains that, while sometimes news media is indeed chasing stories that seem to be of great public interest, it also tries to generate the sensation that will bring eyes to its advertising and then continue with it, regardless of the facts. In the end, the question is the content of the remarks.
Rep. Tlaib said she wanted to investigate and impeach Donald Trump. That’s the story. Her use of the word “motherfucker” only underlines the seriousness with which she means to do just that. Media outlets should explore why she said that, not how she said it. Rep. King wants to know why the ideas and concepts of white supremacy and white nationalism have gone out of fashion. In fact, King was posing a rhetorical question: He in fact is saying that he still supports concepts and ideologies that promote slavery, sexism, racism, and Native American genocide. You might want to ask him why he said that. Not how he said it. That is the content of his remarks.