Selective Reporting

It happens all the time. You know and I know it. When wingnuts accuse MSM of not telling the whole story, I laugh my ass off! Why? Because they do it all the time. Check out the Michelle Malkin this morning:

Who earns more, college-educated black women or college-educated white women?

...

Black women with bachelor's degrees earn more than similarly educated white women, AP reports:

According to the data, a white woman with a bachelor's degree typically earned nearly $38,000 in 2003, compared with nearly $44,000 for a college-educated Asian woman and $41,000 for a college-educated black woman.

Hispanic women took home slightly less at $37,600 a year.

Here's the part of the AP story Ms. Malkin conveniently left out:

Economists and sociologists suggest possible factors: the tendency of minority women, especially blacks, to more often hold more than one job or work more than 40 hours a week, and the tendency of black professional women who take time off to have a child to return to the work force sooner than others.

A white male with a college diploma earns far more than any similarly educated man or woman -- in excess of $66,000 a year, according to the Census Bureau. Among men with bachelor's degrees, Asians earned more than $52,000 a year, Hispanics earned $49,000 and blacks earned more than $45,000.

College-educated men typically made $63,000, compared with $33,000 for men with just a high school education.

Pinko Feminist Hellcat noticed a similar distortion of the facts in the Chicago Sun-Times reportage of the story. Here's her take:

The stories feature a shoddy theory: being a minority and a woman is a "great commodity" to employers, and may therefore be worth, oh, four thousand dollars more than a White woman.

But you're not worth $25K more. Which is how much more a candidate would get if she were a White guy. But that's not featured in the story. The news is more interested in a battle over crumbs.

So let's be realistic about who is considered to be a real commodity here, and cut out the media distortion and patronizing drivel.

Now, everyone knows that Blog de Malkin is nothing more than partisan propaganda. What's up at the Chicago Sun-Times?

Comments

[burns]

What IS up at the Chicago Sun-Times? Perhaps we will be able to get Robert Novak to comment.

This is classic Malkin. It is difficult to tell, however, if she is blinded by her own brand of myopic, agenda-driven zeal or if she is of the Coulter school of selling outrageousness.

[mats]

Roger Ebert is and has for a long time been the only readable thing in the Sun-Times.

[BETH ANNE]

I believe it is called a lie of omission. Tsk. Tsk. As a Catholic Malkin should know better.

[Billmon]

What's up at the Chicago Sun-Times?

Conrad Black.

[NTodd]

I'm confused: should I still be happy that I'm a straight, white male blogger or not?

[The Heretik]

This is all "too serious." Mommy, why won't Aunt Roxanne give us catblogging?

[Carla]

I'm in the midst of trying to cobble together a list of female political writers who blog from the right. I just can't stomach linking to Malkin or Coulter or Ingraham or Noonan. They're too far over the cliff.

If anyone knows any decent political blogs done by women who are moderate to right leaning...please comment over at Preemptive Karma.

Good fortune will follow you for days on end if you assist me in this endeavor.

Really.

[Joey]

"Economists and sociologists suggest possible factors: the tendency of minority women, especially blacks, to more often hold more than one job or work more than 40 hours a week, and the tendency of black professional women who take time off to have a child to return to the work force sooner than others."

I noticed that the AP story "conveniently left out" the names of these "economists and sociologists," and also failed to cite any studies that back up what is asserted in this sentence.

It's also possible that said "economists and sociologists" meant to say that minority women, TAKEN AS A WHOLE AND INCLUDING LOWER-EARNING, LESS EDUCATED FOLKS WHO MIGHT HAVE TO WORK MORE THAN ONE JOB, might tend to work more than one job.

I'm just sayin'.

[Roxanne]

Yep, MSM leaves stuff out. That's the point of the post. But, if you have a cite for:

"TAKEN AS A WHOLE AND INCLUDING LOWER-EARNING, LESS EDUCATED FOLKS WHO MIGHT HAVE TO WORK MORE THAN ONE JOB"

I'm happy to make a correction.

[thunk]

It's quite possible, perhaps likely, that the AP story Joey referred to above is printed in more than one version--if memory serves, the AP wire basically runs a story continually, folding in more info with each version, and various outlets edit at will.

And, just because I like to point out inconvenient facts: if the census report is unable to account for variable work hours, or for people with multiple jobs, then aren't all the numbers somewhat questionable? I mean, if it's possible that college-ed black women's earnings are higher than college-ed white women b/c black women work more hours, isn't it at least possible that some of the gender difference observed has the same cause?

Guess I need to look at the dang report.

[Eli]

Oh, Roxanne! I'll never forgive you for winning that Lincoln-Douglas debate. Some assholes never change.

[Scott Robertson]

Roxanne,

Thanks for reading Malkin so I don't have to. She is only about a half a step up from the vile Coulter.

Just a thought, but I would think that people living in bigger cities make more money than country folk (I know the do) and since cities tend to be more racially divversified I would think this also lends into the salary disparity. Just a thought. And another thought, Malkin is a tool.

[SamChevre]

Confounding variables are a huge problem here. Is the average college-educated white man older than average college graduate who is not? If so, that would account for a good chunk of the disparity--and it seems likely. Similarly, are only the employed included? If college-educated white women are more likely to be homemakers (probable, given the higher marriage rates), that will skew the earnings figure if those not in the workforce are included.

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[bkgmpit]

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