One piece of PBS’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention unwittingly confirmed media labeling bias on PBS and other outlets. Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart hailed the Democrat’s vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz for using the supposedly less frightening and more convincing term “gun safety legislation” instead of “gun violence laws” (which the PBS News Hour has also used).
Anchor Geoff Bennett, 9:50 p.m. (ET): We have seen Democrats do that on abortion, talking less about abortion rights and more about reproductive freedom. To what degree does the language matter, Amy [Walker]?
Hmm. Who else talks like Democrats by saying “reproductive” rights instead of “abortion”? PBS anchors and reporters! Amusingly, there were couple of incidents on the very same Night Four of the convention, both before Bennett talked about how language mattered, and afterward:
