Asses, Fact Checked

I think the media inaccuracy witch hunt is reaching its zenith. (Or perhaps its nadir.) Brian Williams is being slammed for saying that there are no black members of the of the Senate, and that it’s a bigger problem than there being no black television news anchors on the major networks. I’d read his comments in the United in-flight magazine when they were published, and I agreed with him then. The thing is, despite Obama’s status as a senator-elect, Williams is correct. There are currently no black members of the Senate.

Also, even after Obama begins his term, there will be one black member of the Senate. That’s still a sign that something’s wrong, people. So, in addition to being factually correct, the general issue Williams was raising, that almost every kind of American is underrepresented in the Senate, and that legislative underrepresentation is a greater danger than journalistic representation, is also correct. So, to recap: Correct in the letter of what he said, and correct in the spirit of what he was communicating.

Fact-checkers, fire away!