Op-Ed Shocker: Like Attracts Like

Before there were blogs there were newspaper op-ed pages, vast spaces of “coveted” newsprint generally set aside for academics to voice their “diverse” opinions, “reach a big audience” (we’re guessing bigger in those days) and “influence public policy.” As you might imagine, before oversharing became the norm, competition for these spaces was high. So no doubt you’ll be surprised to learn that according to a recent study the people most often handed this space were white men who shared the same opinion as the white men running the paper they were writing for. We know! Who would have ever guessed.

They combed through 366 opinion articles written by college teachers or researchers and published by three newspapers: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Star-Ledger, the largest-circulation newspaper in New Jersey…At each newspaper, 90 to 95 percent of the published articles agreed with the editorial page stance on the issue at hand…and when the opinion pieces disagreed, “it was usually in a point/counterpoint format where at least one of the authors by definition had to take a view in opposition.”

Of course, there is always Maureen Dowd to twist it up for the rest of us, so really, hardly cause for concern at all.

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