Take three liberal policy advocates, stir into a 12-paragraph story, and strain out any dissenting voices.
That's the recipe for pushing Washington Post writer Martin Ricard's June 24 story on illegal immigrants who rallied yesterday in Washington, D.C., for a bill before Congress to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get access to financial aid for college.
In "Students Stage Mock Graduation To Advocate for Undocumented," Ricard noted "[a]lmost 400 students and their supporters" yesterday who "were drawn this year" to a mock graduation ceremony in Washington, D.C., "organized by United We Dream." Nowhere in his article did Ricard describe any of the students as "illegal immigrants," preferring instead to label them "undocumented."
Ricard failed to explain who runs or financially backs United We Dream nor did he label as liberal the pro-illegal immigrant activist group Casa de Maryland, which was "one of the local organizations that took part in the event." The Post staffer also failed to note the leftward tack of the National Council of La Raza even though he quoted that group's "director of immigration and national campaigns," Clarissa Martinez on her hopeful evaluation of the Obama administration's interest in pushing immigration reform through Congress.
