USA Today is at it again.
The Gannett-owned newspaper this week retroactively edited an opinion article to alter the author’s tone and intent. Again.
The difference this time is the changes USA Today made to collegiate track athlete Chelsea Mitchell’s May 22 article come to the detriment of the author, entirely undercutting her argument against opening women’s sports to biological males who identify as female.
Where the word “male” once appeared in Mitchell’s article, the word “transgender” now appears. USA Today also added an apologetic editor’s note to the story, which reads, “This column has been updated to reflect USA TODAY’s standards and style guidelines. We regret that hurtful language was used.”
As a brief aside, USA Today is the same outfit that on May 13 published an opinion article written by its deputy editorial page editor titled “After ousting Liz Cheney, Republicans prove they’re a bigger threat than 9/11 hijackers.” There is no editor’s note apologizing for “hurtful language” in that piece.
Worst of all, according to Mitchell, USA Today retroactively edited her article without first notifying her of the changes.
In other words, USA Today scrubbed Mitchell’s carefully chosen words, kneecapped her argument against pitting female athletes against biological males, and reportedly didn’t even give her an advance heads-up.
A spokesperson for the paper did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
“I Was the Fastest Girl in Connecticut. But Transgender Athletes Made it an Unfair Fight,” reads the article’s headline.
Its opening lines originally read, “It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.”
“Instead,” the article added, “all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage: a male body.”
Pay attention to the second to last word, “male,” as it will come up again later.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference “allows biological males to compete in girls’ and women’s sports,” Mitchell’s article initially read. “As a result, two males began racing in girls’ track in 2017. In the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons alone, these males took 15 women’s state track championship titles (titles held in 2016 by nine different girls) and more than 85 opportunities to participate in higher level competitions that belonged to female track athletes.”
It added, “That’s because males have massive physical advantages. Their bodies are simply bigger and stronger on average than female bodies. It’s obvious to every single girl on the track.”
The above passages have been amended by USA Today to remove all mentions of the word “male.” The passages now read [emphases included]:
<bsp-quote data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1622150729417,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000174-da0c-dc88-a3f4-db2c0f230001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1622150729417,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000174-da0c-dc88-a3f4-db2c0f230001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"quote":"Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a transgender runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage.
I won that race, and I’m grateful. But time after time, I have lost. I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to transgender runners. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two transgender runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.","_id":"00000179-af63-dda8-aff9-bf7f2a130000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b92f10002"}”>Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a <b>transgender</b> runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage.
I won that race, and I’m grateful. But time after time, I have lost. <a href=”https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/02/12/frustrating-and-disheartening-3-girls-losing-to-biological-males-in-track-announce-lawsuit/” target=”_blank” label=”I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles” class=”rte2-style-brightspot-core-link-LinkRichTextElement” link-data=”{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1622150712673,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000174-da0c-dc88-a3f4-db2c0f230001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1622150712673,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000174-da0c-dc88-a3f4-db2c0f230001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[{"name":"label","value":"I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles","_id":"00000179-afb7-da70-a3ff-afb77e270001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b92e00006"},{"name":"class","value":"rte2-style-brightspot-core-link-LinkRichTextElement","_id":"00000179-afb7-da70-a3ff-afb77e270002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b92e00006"}],"url":"https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/02/12/frustrating-and-disheartening-3-girls-losing-to-biological-males-in-track-announce-lawsuit/","_id":"00000179-afb7-da70-a3ff-afb77e270003","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b92e10000"},"linkText":"I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles","_id":"00000179-afb7-da70-a3ff-afb77e270000","_type":"00000163-0359-d703-a16f-3ff9c7b00000"}”>I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles</a>, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to <b>transgender</b> runners. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two <b>transgender</b> runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.A line that once read, “there’s a runner on the line with an enormous advantage: a male body,” now reads, “there’s a transgender runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage.”
There are additional examples, but you get the picture.
The edits not only significantly weaken Mitchell’s position, but they also benefit her opponents by erasing all relevant appeals to biological differences. She originally argued she is being made to compete with biological males, who naturally have a physical advantage over female athletes. However, the way the article reads now, there is no significant difference between Mitchell and her competition. In fact, the way it reads now, the author sounds as if she’s complaining she’s merely being made to compete against superior athletes.
If USA Today and others disagree there are biological differences, then fine, they can try to argue that position. But don’t water down Mitchell’s position, especially if the entire purpose of running her article was to present a specific side of the issue.
The paper can’t claim the changes are about style or standards. USA Today easily could have put a disclaimer on the article and allowed Mitchell to argue her point. (And as the op-ed comparing Republicans to the 9/11 hijackers referenced in the above shows, USA Today is clearly not above publishing incendiary commentary.) But the paper went far beyond that. It actively worked on behalf of those who disagree with Mitchell, sanitizing and scrubbing the author’s carefully chosen words in favor of language to her critics’ liking.
To recap, USA Today accepted an opinion article from a woman who opposes the effort to incorporate biological males into women’s sports. The paper then amended the language of the article to make it conform to the language used by the author’s opponents. USA Today reportedly did this without informing the author, whom USA Today accuses now of using “hurtful language.”
It’s cliché to reference George Orwell in cases such as Mitchell’s, but it really does apply.
Few things today are as unsettling, or insidious, as the American press’s attempts to control how people talk.
