Is the media biased? Divergent reporting on two recent executive actions would suggest so.
Let’s begin with President Trump’s emergency declaration on the border situation. That received significant media criticism as an undemocratic sidestepping of constitutional order and a clear example of bad government. But where is the media criticism of Gov. Gavin Newsom? Because Newsom’s death penalty moratorium on Wednesday is a very similar executive overreach.
Let’s start with the similarities. Just as Trump’s declaration jumps around congressional sentiment, Newsom has jumped around legislative action. Just as Trump’s action has little public support, Newsom’s overrules a 2016 ballot referendum that upheld the death penalty.
But in some ways Newsom’s action is even more immoral than Trump’s. Newsom has just overruled the judicial will of 737 separate juries. An intrinsic principle of American governance is the insulation of the judiciary from executive diktat. Newsom has just shredded that principle, indiscriminately commuting hundreds of sentences.
Much of the media doesn’t appear to care, however.
In his report, Vox.com’s Dylan Scott totally ignores victims’ families and avoids scrutiny of death row inmates’ crimes. Instead, he spends most of his article suggesting that support for the death penalty is racist. Many other media outlets have echoed this sentiment. CNN calls Newsom’s action “a bold stroke.” The New York Times salutes Newsom’s “soul searching.” NPR implies Newsom’s action is moral because “public opinion in California on capital punishment has shifted dramatically in the past few decades.”
Trump executive overreach: bad. Newsom executive overreach: good. Interesting, isn’t it?
