No Such Thing As Media Bias. Riiiiiight.

As I have written before, I support the legalization of same sex marriage. I just don’t understand how allowing two men or two women to marry would in any way undermine a heterosexual couple’s marriage. My favorite anti-gay marriage argument is that gay men are too promiscuous to be allowed to marry. So the best way to reduce promiscuity is to prevent gay men from entering a legally recognized monogamous relationship?

While I would happily vote for a law to legalize same-sex marriage, I object to judges that feel free to substitute their personal beliefs (even when I share those beliefs) for the law. That is something a majority of the California Supreme Court did recently in overturning California’s recent voter enacted ban on same sex marriage.

Not surprisingly, this decision has led to a backlash as opponents seek to amend the California Constitution to overturn this decision. Here is where that unbiased reporting comes in. The La Times and KTLA polled registered voters in California about support for this Constitutional Amendment. The Times online addition has this headline:

Times Poll: Californians narrowly reject gay marriage

The picture at right is from the print edition. Reading the article, it is not until the sixth paragraph that the Times gives the actual poll numbers. It seems California registered voters support the Constitutional Amendment by a mere 19% (54-35%). That’s a “narrow” and “slim” 19%. In most elections 19% is a landslide, but that must only be when the 19% is “wide” and “chubby.”

If the LA Times wants to argue on its editorial page that voters should reject the amendment they have every right, in fact I encourage them to do so. But misrepresenting polling results in the way they did is not journalism. It makes me wonder how the Times framed the polling questions in the first place. It might well be support for the amendment is actually higher.

But at least there is no liberal bias in the media.