At WaPo, It Was ‘Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.’ Now The Paper Ignores Vanessa Tyson’s Title
Peter D'Abrosca
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Here’s an interesting leftist media double-standard.
When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was making wild allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in September, despite not remembering the date, time, or place in which the alleged incident occurred, Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post insisted that you, and I, and the rest of the world use her full name: Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
The paper published an entire piece on the subject.
It was called “Her name is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Use it.”
“No matter where you stand on Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation of sexual assault against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, it’s hard not to notice the inequality in how the two have been addressed,” wrote Steven Petrew. “President Trump has routinely referred to ‘Judge Kavanaugh.’ For instance, the president said earlier this week: ‘Judge Kavanaugh is one of the finest people that I’ve ever known,’ which is the appropriate and respectful manner in which to address him. (When you’ve earned an honorific, people should use it. The rule applies equally to Trump, who is properly addressed as “Mr. President,” even if you’re a Democrat.)”
The piece went on to whine that President Donald J. Trump called Ford “the woman” (despite the fact that he called her Dr. Ford in a Tweet) and that Kellyanne Conway called Ford “her” and “the accuser.”
This really miffed The Washington Post back in September.
Flash forward to Wednesday.
At this point, we know that the paper spiked Dr. Vanessa Tyson’s allegations against Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax last year, dismissing them as “uncorroborated.” (If that is the standard, then WaPo should immediately retract every story on Ford, but that’s a different story.) Interestingly, the paper does not seem to have the same feeling about “honorifics” in regard to Tyson.
“Professor who accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of 2004 sexual assault issues statement detailing alleged incident,” was the WaPo headline from Wednesday.
The piece does not mention that Tyson has a doctorate, and rightfully holds the “honorific” Dr., except in the context of quoting Fairfax’s denial of the alleged sexual assault. It also avoids using her name at all costs.
“Fairfax vehemently denied the allegation, saying that the woman was lying and that he was the victim of a ‘smear,'” the paper said. “The woman, meanwhile, was silent.”
Back in September, describing an accuser as “the woman” was out of bounds for the folks at Washington Post. Apparently, that’s only the standard when the accuser is accusing a Republican.
“She accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex during the encounter, which took place during the Democratic National Convention in Boston,” the piece continued.
Later in the piece, the paper referred to the accuser only as “Tyson.” There was no discussion about “honorifics” or respect.
Though slight, this distinction between the descriptors used for Ford and Tyson is a perfect example of subtle media bias, in this case used by the far-left media to discredit allegations of sexual abuse that might damage a Democrat.
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