Blaming Republicans for the government shutdown: The end of false equivalence?

Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board is urging the GOP to throw in the towel

Paul Krugman
(Image credit: (Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images))

In the flood of news stories about the government shutdown, media critics started noticing phrases that irked them. For instance, an Al Jazeera America story that went viral lambasted The Washington Post and New York Times for saying things like Democrats and Republicans had "failed to reach agreement" during their "bitter budget standoff."

"This sort of false equivalence is not just a failure of journalism," Al Jazeera America's Dan Froomkin writes. "It is also a failure of democracy."

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Keith Wagstaff is a staff writer at TheWeek.com covering politics and current events. He has previously written for such publications as TIME, Details, VICE, and the Village Voice.