{"id":2685806,"date":"2026-10-16T16:57:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignthe-nyt-will-only-acknowledge-your-professional-degree-if-youre-a-democrat\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T17:04:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T21:04:59","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignthe-nyt-will-only-acknowledge-your-professional-degree-if-youre-a-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignthe-nyt-will-only-acknowledge-your-professional-degree-if-youre-a-democrat\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT Will Only Acknowledge Your Degree If You&#8217;re A Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignthe-nyt-will-only-acknowledge-your-professional-degree-if-youre-a-democrat%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2685806&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the media&#8217;s inconsistent treatment of academic and professional credentials, highlighting how The New York Times scrutinizes similar titles differently depending on political alignment. It notes that President Trump\u2019s former press secretary, Katie Zacharia, called herself a lawyer but the paper couldn&#8217;t verify she was licensed, whereas it brushed aside questions about Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed\u2019s medical degree, despite him never practicing medicine. During a debate, the Times reported that El-Sayed earned a medical degree but failed to mention he isn&#8217;t a licensed physician, contrasting with how they have previously highlighted other credentials like Ben Carson\u2019s medical career, often without emphasizing the lack of current practice. the piece also points out a perceived bias in how the Times reports on Democratic figures like Jill Biden, emphasizing their academic titles as achievements versus scrutinizing Republican figures\u2019 titles. the article suggests a double standard in media coverage based on political or ideological lines.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The New York Times went out looking for a law license when President Donald Trump\u2019s new \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/10\/16\/us\/politics\/katie-zacharia-fired-press-secretary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and now former<\/a> \u2014 press secretary, Katie Zacharia, called herself a lawyer. But when Republican Mike Rogers challenged Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed\u2019s credentials, the Times went out of its way to explain that El-Sayed \u2014 who has repeatedly referred to himself as a physician \u2014 earned a medical degree but never practiced medicine (while continuing to call him \u201cdoctor\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, describes herself as a lawyer, and he called her \u2018an attorney.\u2019 The New York Times was unable to find a law license for her. In an interview, she said the confusion is the result of a misunderstanding,\u201d the Times <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nytimes\/status\/2110546327515832777?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> in a post on X.<\/p>\n<p>Zacharia graduated from law school. Whether she is licensed to practice law is a separate question, but the Times took an entirely different approach to handling the self-designation of El-Sayed, who has <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kylemartinsen_\/status\/2110750995617825172?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repeatedly<\/a> referred to himself as a physician. The Times has apparently foregone investigation into his license and the painstaking examination of whether his self-referral matches his actual qualifications. The Times found time to investigate a Republican\u2019s title but not that of El-Sayed \u2014 a candidate who\u2019s been in the public eye for months.<\/p>\n<p>During its Oct. 8 coverage of Michigan\u2019s Senate debate, the Times\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/10\/08\/us\/michigan-senate-debate-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kellen Browning<\/a> reported that Rogers argued El-Sayed was \u201cnot really a doctor.\u201d Rather than provide the Zacharia treatment of pointing out El-Sayed is in fact <em>not<\/em> a licensed doctor, Browning ran cover for El-Sayed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe earned a medical degree from Columbia University but has never been a practicing physician,\u201d Browning wrote, before continuing to refer to El-Sayed as a \u201cDr.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His credentials also earned him a rather glowing treatment from the Times in a past profile, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/27\/us\/politics\/el-sayed-michigan-senate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Kruse <\/a>introducing El-Sayed as an \u201cestablishment-accredited epidemiologist turned anti-establishment avatar.\u201d He then detailed El-Sayed\u2019s scholarships, his Oxford doctorate in epidemiology, and his medical degree from Columbia.<\/p>\n<p>But much like Zacharia never became a practicing attorney, El-Sayed never became a practicing physician. But unlike they did with Zacharia, the media didn\u2019t use the lack of a license to malign him.<\/p>\n<p>The disparate treatment doesn\u2019t end there: Actually <em>practicing<\/em> medicine doesn\u2019t guarantee Republicans will get the same treatment \u201cDr.\u201d El-Sayed gets. Ben Carson spent decades as a top neurosurgeon, yet when the Times was <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/www.nytimes.com\/politics\/first-draft\/2016\/03\/04\/ben-carsons-new-job-getting-christians-to-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporting<\/a> on the end of his presidential campaign in 2016, the Times reporters referred to the retired neurosurgeon as \u201cBen Carson\u201d or \u201cMr.\u201d but never \u201cDr.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBen Carson suspended his presidential campaign on Friday, ending an upstart bid that began with promise before fizzling out. Mr. Carson signaled this week that he was winding things down, when he said that he would skip the Republican debate on Thursday night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The outlet did refer to Carson as \u201cDr.\u201d in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/23\/us\/politics\/with-ben-carson-the-doctor-and-the-politician-can-vary-sharply.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">separate profile<\/a> on his medical career, while presenting his work as a brain surgeon as contradictory to his political career. The article also cast doubt on whether Carson was as accomplished as he was (unlike how the Times deployed El-Sayed\u2019s degree to bolster the candidate).<\/p>\n<p>The Times\u2019 affinity for degree-holding Democrats was also clear when Jill Biden\u2019s title came under scrutiny. In December of 2020, the Times\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/12\/12\/us\/jill-biden-doctor-wsj.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Levenson<\/a> wrote a piece criticizing a Wall Street Journal op-ed that suggested people drop \u201cDr.\u201d from Biden\u2019s title. Biden has a doctorate in education. <\/p>\n<p>Levenson emphasized accusations that the suggestions in the WSJ were sexist and \u201cunderscored the way men often dismiss women\u2019s credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Levenson also quoted anthropology professor Sarah H. Parcak, who said: \u201cIf you have a doctorate in pharmacy or education or biology, it doesn\u2019t matter: Call yourself a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou worked your rear end off for years to earn that. Shout it from the rooftops, if you want to. It\u2019s your right,\u201d Parcak said.<\/p>\n<p>When The New York Times is tasked with covering Biden or El-Sayed, the paper\u2019s writer present their academic accomplishments as just that, accomplishments. When Times writers cover Zacharia or Carson, they scrutinize and downplay those same accomplishments.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NYT scrutinizes credentials differently for Dems and Reps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2685807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-16-at-2.52.13-PM-scaled-e1792176830989-1024x577.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5050,5152,4188,5894],"class_list":["post-2685806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-bias","tag-education","tag-media","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-16-at-2.52.13-PM-scaled-e1792176830989-1024x577.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2685806"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2685809,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685806\/revisions\/2685809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2685807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2685806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2685806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2685806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}