A special election was held in South Carolina yesterday. It was for the State House seat in District 50, which the incumbent, Democrat Will Wheeler, resigned from to secure a judicial appointment. The special election was won by Democrat Keishan Scott.
And here is Newsweek’s headine for this story:
Democrats achieve landslide election win in South Carolina
Wow!! In usually Republican South Carolina the Democrat Party just won an election in a landslide. The tide must be turning big time in that state…
…except…
…what the headline does not communictate is that a)the election was only in one district, b) it is a district that always votes Democrat – so much so that c) in the last regularly scheduled election (2024) incumbent, Will Wheeler ran unopposed, and that d) in this special election the Republican challenger got 30% of the vote.
Hey, here’s an alternative headline:
SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICANS ACHIEVE A 30% GAIN IN yesterday’s election
Would that headline be fair? Would it communicate what happened accurately?
Uh…well…it would be about as fair and accurate as the one Newsweek used, wouldn’t it?
Ahhh, yes. “Neutral media”.
I rest my case.
