Commonwealth Policy Center

Mainstream news media seem quick to criticize conservatives for controversial comments. But the same news outlets appear reluctant when it comes to criticizing the left. Consider a recent tweet by a Yale University law professor who claimed that “Every single person I have I [sic] asked in Central Asia (and Eastern Europe) over the past decade and a half has said life was better under the Soviets — 100 percent.” The professor, Emily Jane O’Dell, specializes in Islamic law and civilization. O’Dell also tweeted that an Ivy League professor told her that, “coming to America was the greatest mistake of her life & she will be returning soon to her post-Soviet nation [because] neoliberal late capitalism is devoid of all humanity.” Such rhetoric is allowed in a free nation and is expected on college campuses, but balanced journalism will also report this.