Okay, so I’m a little ashamed to admit this.  But for a while there I was beginning to think the major media in this country was not being so fair and balanced.  I’m referring to their reporting of our new American reality TV show called The Presidential Primaries.

Most specifically, I’m thinking about the inability of their newscasters to pronounce the name Ron Paul.
That seems simple enough.  It’s just two, one-syllable words.  Rawn Pawl, phonetically speaking.  And you would think these giants of journalism would have no problem saying something as simple as that.

But that’s just my opinion, so I did some field research to test it.  While visiting my neighbors the other day, I asked their two year old daughter Margaret to say Ron Paul.  Here’s a record of that boots on the ground field research.

J. Daniel:  Can you say Ron Paul?
Margaret: Wan Paw

Case closed – even a two year old can pronounce his name.

For those of you who don’t know who Ron Paul is, he’s one of the contenders for President in the Republican Party.   And he’s appeared on national TV every debate night along with all the other Presidential hopefuls like Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and hmmmm … I forget the other ones – oops.

Love him, hate him, or don’t know who he is, he darn near took first place back in August in the Iowa straw poll, coming in second, just barely behind flavor of the week Michele Bachmann, who took first place, and ahead of Mitt Romney, Newt, Rick Perry, etc.

You would have thought the media would be all over that – after all, it was a pretty big surprise.  But no, all they reported on was Michele, and Newt and Rick and Mitt.  But no Ron Paul.  And their reporting has been pretty sparse ever since then.

Huh?  How about the guy that almost beat number one Michele Bachmann – missed by a nose – Ron Paul?  Not a word.  Not a peep.  Like down at the racetrack, if the announcer called out the names of the horses who won first … third and fourth (not that I play the ponies, mind you … ahem).  Whatever happened to win, place and show?  It’s been like the major newscasters couldn’t pronounce his name.

Which struck me as a bit odd.  After all, they have no problem pronouncing names like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadinezhād [mæhˈmuːd(-e) æhmædiːneˈʒɒːd] English: /ɑːkməˈdɪnɨʒɒd/.  You know, that prince of a fellow and Islamic President of Iran.

So for a while there, I began to have negative media thoughts, like … well, maybe they weren’t so fair and balanced, or maybe they were pushing their favorites, and even maybe they were trying to pick – or anoint – the winner – instead of that silly old boring stuff like just reporting the news and letting us decide.

I know, I know … rather cynical of me to think that way.

Okay – so that’s all old news.  But here’s where it gets interesting, because this is a story of redemption, of how my faith in the media was restored.

It eventually occurred to me that these Titans of Tautology really couldn’t say those words – they could only say the ones they knew over and over.  They have such high powered speech skills that one-syllable words were just too easy.  You know, how experts and geniuses can be brilliant and have the most difficult time doing something we find simple.  Like Einstein, who some say had trouble counting out change when he bought something.

But to their credit, it’s become clear to me that all the major newscasters stepped up to the problem and took remedial speech classes so they could learn to pronounce those two one-syllable words – Ron Paul.  I say that because lately I’ve been hearing his name bandied about on the news quite frequently.  The media has finally caught up to little two year old Margaret’s skills.

And I’m right proud of them.  And my faith in American journalism has been restored.

So have you felt the media has been fair and balanced throughout the Primary Race?  And can you say Wan Paw?  I’d love to hear your opinion on this – to see if I finally got my mind (and pronunciation) right.

Have a nice day – J. Daniel

P.S. My friend Charlie says they started reporting on him because he keeps showing up with bigger and bigger numbers in the polls and now they have to, but I think that’s just being crass and cynical.