Tag Archives: freedom

The Unasked Question in the Franzen-Picoult Fracas

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It seems nothing good can ever happen to anyone these days without someone quickly making a demographic calculation and launching allegations of bias.  And, even when these allegations themselves clearly have merit, the evidence, arguments, and ideology behind them often do not.

Such is the case of Jodi Picoult‘s poorly substantiated — but likely correct! — assertion that the New York Times treats white male writers with more respect than others.

The thing about accusations of irrational, unfair bias like this: they might be 100 percent accurate, yet the arguments propping them up can still be equally irrational, unfair, and biased.

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