Topic: Accuracy in Media
An April 13 Accuracy in Media blog post by Don Irvine baseless asserted taht "Obama supporters and others on the left" are "mercilessly attacking" Arizona State University and "accusing the school of racism for their decision" not to award President Obama an honorary degree when he visits in May to deliver a commencement speech. Irvine offers no evidence that any notable person on "the left" has invoked racism in their criticism of the school. Indeed, it appears that the opposite is true.
For instance, John Aravosis at the liberal AmericaBlog wrote: "Now, before anyone thinks this is about racism or anything, it should be noted that Arizona State is happy to bestow honorary degrees on other people of color (or at least non-white color) who have accomplished great things in their lives, like the vice minister of education of communist China." (One would think that would set off the anti-communist obsessives at AIM more than a degree for Obama; instead, Irvine's offended that ASU will instead rename a scholarship for Obama, which means "his name will live on in perpetuity at a school where he has zero relationship and all because of the desire to be politically correct.")
At the Huffington Post, Earl Ofari Hutchinson stated that allegations that ASU president Michael Crow is a "closet bigot" are "mostly hearsay and does not tag Crow as a president with a vendetta against women and minorities."
Even a blog at the website for the black-oriented cable channel BET did not reference race issues in reporting the story.
Irvine might want to try backing up his claims once in a while.
