According to the headline in the March 29 issue of the Lawrence Journal-World, "Lecture to feature right-wing commentator." "Right-wing commentator Ann Coulter has made a career bashing liberals and otherwise pushing political hot buttons," the article noted. The term "right-wing" was used again in a cutline and in a second headline on page 4A. Even the "continued on" line on page 1A invited readers to "Please see RIGHT-WING on page 4A." Coulter merited a total of five mentions of the "right-wing" label.
I wondered if the Journal-World used the "left-wing" label with liberal visitors to Kansas University, so I did a little searching through the archives. When Molly Ivins visited Lawrence in 2001 to accept the William Allen White Foundation's national citation, the headline on Feb. 10, 2001 merely read "Texas columnist Ivins receives White award." The word "left" did appear in the article twice, but not as an adjective.
When Ellen Goodman visited KU in 1995 to receive the William Allen White Foundation's national citation, the Journal-World's headline read "Columnist to receive award." Goodman joked that she would probably fall into Rush Limbaugh's "femi-nazi" category, but the Journal-World offered no label to characterize Goodman's left-wing viewpoints.
