July 6, 2025 6:30 am

An Epidemic of Media Doublespeak

And nowhere is the problem more severe than in the coverage of trans athletes.

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Left: Penn Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas on the pool deck at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga., March 19, 2022. Right: SEC champion swimmer Riley Gaines speaks during the general session at the CPAC conference in Dallas, Texas, August 6, 2022.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports; Go Nakamura/Reuters

‘Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving.”

That joke, made twelve years ago by an acquaintance of mine, David Burge, known to many as Iowahawk, is as fresh today as it was when he first told it.

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Becket Adams

Becket Adams is a columnist for National Review, the Washington Examiner, and The Hill.

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‘Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving.”

That joke, made twelve years ago by an acquaintance of mine, David Burge, known to many as Iowahawk, is as fresh today as it was when he first told it.