Update (18:46 EST): CBS has since changed the headline to "Controversial Voting Legislation Passes In Virginia Senate."
"'Jim Crow' Voting Legislation Passes in Virginia Senate," a CBS news headline on a Washington D.C. CBS news website alarmed readers tonight.
The AP/CBSDC story, filed at 10:33 p.m. Eastern on the website for CBS Radio's new all-news station WNEW, reports on the passage of a strict voter ID law in the Virginia State Senate. As we've noted previously, the Washington Post has reported, uncritically, Virginia Democratic legislators' Jim Crow comparisons, but it appears that CBS News is taking the Washington Post's bias even further (see screen capture below page break):
RICHMOND, Va. (CBSDC/AP) — A controversial bill that has drawn likeness to Jim Crow-era politics in Virginia has taken another big step forward.
The legislation that will force voters to bring identification to Virginia polling places on election day won Senate passage Monday after Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling broke a 20-20 partisan deadlock.
Monday’s vote in the 40-member Senate marked what opponents felt was the last chance to stop the legislation. Opponents claim it would suppress votes of minorities, the elderly or disabled and students.
Passage into law is largely thought to be a formality at this point.
