Jan Brewer

Networks Fail to Distinguish Between Xenophobia and Law Enforcement
By Colleen Raezler | May 5, 2010 | 11:42 AM EDT
Liberal political pundits frequently remind Americans that words matter, which makes broadcast network reporters' coverage of Arizona's new crack down on illegal immigrants so appalling.  

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a law on April 23 that would make it a misdemeanor for immigrants to not carry documentation proving they are in the country legally. The bill gave state law enforcement the power to determine the immigration status of any person during "any lawful contact." Amid allegations that this law would lead to "racial profiling," Brewer later amended it to allow law enforcement to only check the immigration status of those involved in a "lawful stop, detention or arrest."

Reporters on ABC, NBC and CBS misled the American people about the law by calling it "anti-immigration" twice as often as correctly identifying the law as "anti-illegal immigration" and reporting, as ABC's Bill Weir did on the April 24 "Good Morning America, "Police [in Arizona] now have the power to stop anyone and make them prove they are legal."

'Powdery White Substance' Sent to Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer's Office - Help NB Track MSM Coverage
By Lachlan Markay | May 4, 2010 | 5:28 PM EDT

About 45 minutes ago, Red State's Caleb Howe reported that a package filled with a white powder was sent to the office of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Brewer, picture right in a file photo, has become a controversial figure since she signed into law a bill giving state authorities more power to determine an individual's immigration status.

Andrew Staubitz, the chief of Phoenix's Capital Police Department, told Howe that a state employee opened an envelope addressed to the Governor and found a "powdery white substance." The first floor of the Arizona Capitol was closed for about half an hour. Paramedics were called, but the employee required no further medical assistance. The powder was sent to a lab where it is undergoing tests.

Will the media report this event as vehemently as they have other instances of purported political violence?  Will they extrapolate a larger threat posed by opponents of the new immigration law as they repeatedly have with the Tea Party movement (even though it has been completely devoid of violence)? Or will they apply the journalistic scrutiny to this incident that they failed to apply to the claims of members of Congressional Black Caucus who said protesters had shouted racial slurs at them? We will see.

Geraldo Warns Latino Congressman He Might Get Stopped By Arizona Cops
By Noel Sheppard | April 25, 2010 | 1:47 AM EDT

Geraldo Rivera told a Latino Congressman Saturday that he might get stopped on the streets of Phoenix by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as a result of the new anti-immigration law signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer the previous day.

Discussing the newly-passed legislation with guests Arpaio and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) on "Geraldo at Large," the host ungraciously started the segment by asking, "Sheriff, how do you define reasonable suspicion? Is it like obscenity that you don't exactly know how to define it but you know it when you see it?"

Arpaio responded, "[D]uring the course of the duties of law enforcement, my deputies, if someone doesn't have a license, doesn't speak English, ten guys stashed in back of a van, I think that's reasonable action or probable cause to take action."

Moments later, Rivera quipped, "Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, let me just warn you, maybe if you were walking around the streets of Phoenix, Sheriff Joe might stop you. You look sort of Latino, we're not sure even though you have a storied family background" (video follows with transcript, hat-tips to @Cubachi and The Right Scoop):  

CNN's Malveaux Omits Pro-Illegal Immigration Stance of 'Legal Defender'
By Matthew Balan | April 23, 2010 | 6:24 PM EDT
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN Correspondent; & Isabel Garcia, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos | NewsBusters.orgOn Friday's Situation Room, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux omitted the pro-illegal immigration activism of guest Isabel Garcia. Malveaux only referenced how her guest was "legal defender of Pima County, Arizona" and that she was "also co-chair of a Tucson-based human rights group." She also omitted how Garcia participated in the beating and decapitation of a pinata effigy of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The CNN correspondent, filling-in for anchor Wolf Blitzer, brought on the legal defender five minutes into the 5 pm Eastern hour to discuss how Arizona Governor Jan Brewer had signed a strong anti-illegal immigration bill into law less than an hour earlier. After introducing Garcia without mentioning the name of her organization,  ("The Human Rights Coalition," whose website features a logo incorporating the southwestern states into Mexico; a CNN graphic called it the "Coalition for Human Rights"), Malveaux first asked her, "The governor...said...she's not going to tolerate racial profiling....She's not going to let police officers pull somebody over because [of] the color of their skin or how they look. Do you believe the governor?"