The failure to distinguish between former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair’s plagiarism and his race—which should be irrelevant to his misbehavior—is part of a larger problem the White-owned media has in how it depicts African-Americans, especially Black leaders.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a New York-based group that monitors the media, has issued a report titled, “Disrespect, Distortion and Double Blinds: Media Treatment of Progressive Black Leaders.” Written by Jacqueline Bacon, the report cites example after example of how reporters let their personal biases slip into stories about Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Cornel West.

“Discussing these public figures on the opinion pages, critics often use demeaning terms, with some labels ridiculing these Africa-American spokespersons for seeking to be public figures in the first place,” the report observes.

It continues, “Jesse Jackson is a ‘publicity hound,’ declared Mickey Edwards of the Boston Herald (4/18/01) and Steve Barrett of the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (9/13/02). In a similar vein, the New York Observer (4/29/02) pronounced Cornel West a ‘publicity-loving con man.’ At times, more explicitly racial terms are used for ridicule, as when Rod Dreher of the National Review Online (1/4/02) pronounced West a ‘clownish minstrel.’ Such slurs do nothing to advance debate about these figures’ ideas. Indeed, they serve to dismiss their message before any real consideration of the issues they raise.”

Some journalists echo demeaning terms, as if they’re reading from a script.

“Jackson is a ‘race hustler,’ according to Don Feder (Boston Herald, 1/2/02) and Phil Kent (Augusta Chronicle, 1/28/01). George Will (Washington Post, 10/21/01) and the Washington Times (6/20/00) apply the same label to Sharpton; John J. Miller (National Review, 10/14/02) uses it to describe both men. Jackson and Sharpton’s discussion of racism, such treatment suggests, are not legitimate critiques of society, but rather fraudulent attempts to trick the white public.”

The FAIR report observes that African-American leaders receive unfair treatment from both Black and White commentators.

“Rather than address the messages of African-American leaders, commentators often belittle their appearance or speech. Instead of offering principled consideration of Sharpton’s protest of U.S. military exercises in Vieques, Puerto Rico, for which he spent time in jail, Stanley Crouch (New York Daily News, 6/1/01) offered a trivializing reference to Sharpton’s appearance: ‘I think he may be more concerned about his time behind bars because he might not be able to get his hair done.’

“Similarly, Philip Terzian (Providence Journal, 1/26/03) notes sarcastically of Sharpton’s potential candidacy, ‘With his jumpsuits, medallions, bigoted pronouncements, flowing John C. Calhoun locks and historic attachment to the Tawana Brawley hoax, Sharpton could not be a more suitable Democratic candidate.’”

Of course, Terzian did not give any examples of Sharpton’s supposed “bigoted pronouncements” or provide any serious discussion of the issues Sharpton has raised. Besides, as the report points out, Sharpton has been “wearing three-piece suits at public appearances for some time now.”

In a review of Al Sharpton’s book, “Al on America,” Rod Dreher accused Sharpton of taking positions “without a semblance of sustained, fact-based argument.” In one chapter, however, Sharpton discusses teacher salaries, parental involvement and provides a 12-point plan to implement his goals.

As for Jesse Jackson, the FAIR study says, the media often chooses to focus on his personal life rather than his public utterings.

“The Boston Herald (9/29/01) brought up Jackson’s out-of-wedlock child in an editorial dealing with his proposal to negotiate with the Taliban; columnists Don Feder (Boston Herald, 1/9/02) and Mary McGrory (Washington Post, 1/6/02) inserted the fact into commentaries about his support of Cornel West.

“While commentary on Jackson’s personal life might be relevant in some contexts, these gratuitous references in articles about unrelated topics demonstrate that some commentators are more interested in discrediting him than in offering the public any meaningful discussion of the issues he raises.”

Cornel West is treated no differently.

“When Cornel West described New York Democratic gubernatorial candidate H. Carl McCall as a ‘hesitant brother’ and a ‘timid brother,’ the New York Post (8/27/02) attacked West for ‘race-baiting’ and declared that he was ‘racializ [ing] a campaign’ that previously was ‘relatively benign in that respect.’”

The media does the public a disservice by, in Jesse Jackson words, majoring in the minor.

“It is appropriate for reporters and pundits to challenge, criticize and disagree with public figures of all races; indeed, it is a central part of their jobs,” the report states. “At the same time, media commentators should avoid name-calling, stereotypes and other distractions from substantive discussion about ideas or proposals; represent people’s ideas and statements fairly; and portray their actions and beliefs accurately.”

That would be a big change.