WSSNews | Volume 39 No. 45

• Letter to the Editor
• The Question
• CalMatters Asked About a Lawmaker's Handbag
• --and the One It
• Refused to Answer

By Joe W. Bowers Jr. California Black Media

Since California Black Media was the question CalMatters had (CBM) reported that CalMatters asked Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) wheth- er the Louis Vuitton bag she car- ried at a Capitol event was "real or fake," much has been said-just not clearly, or publicly, by CalM- atters.

In the two weeks since the ques- tion and the editorial decision behind it -- sparked backlash and accusations of racial bias, CalMat- ters has issued no public explana- tion or correction. Instead, on Jan- uary 21, it published a story titled "Lobbyists and lawmakers mingle over luxury tequila, shrimp and cigars at capital party." McKinnor was prominently featured, with descriptions of what she drank, who she spoke with, and her vot- ing record. What it didn't mention asked her office just days earlier - one widely condemned as inap- propriate, racialized, and unpro- fessional.

On Facebook, McKinnor wrote about the January 21 story. "In- stead of asking real, substantive questions, you chose to single me out. That's not journalism -- that's a 'gotcha' attempt that missed the mark... Ask real questions. Re- port real news."

Her Facebook followers echoed her frustration. "What a joke of an article," wrote one. "I don't see where they list what everyone was wearing," said another. Oth- ers called the story "selective," "lazy," and "pointless."

To continue, visit www.WSSNEWS.com.

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