On the morning of Shinzo Abe’s assassination, the legacy mainstream media described the former Japanese prime minister in extremely coloured terms, describing him as an “ultranationalist” and a “divisive arch-conservative.” 

Upon reporting on Abe’s death, NPR labelled Abe an “ultranationalist” and one of Japan’s “most powerful and influential figures.” 

NPR’s skewed reporting on Abe’s death prompted many to call for the outlet to be defunded. 

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1545375245737099266 

As detailed by Fox News, the passage of popular conservative figures has received negative treatment by the media, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who the Washington Post described in a headline as “Supreme Court Conservative Dismayed Liberals.” 

NPR’s report on Abe’s death smeared the popular Japanese leader, painting him in negative terms to its left-leaning audience. NPR was not alone in its apparent condemnation of the Japanese leader, with CBS describing him as a “right-wing nationalist” and a “polarizing figure” who made “controversial” decisions. 

The Associated Press published an article claiming that Abe left behind a “divided legacy.” 

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1545423669979402240

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1545384479581437952

https://twitter.com/politicalelle/status/1545386046409547776

https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1545387692736892928

https://twitter.com/TimJGraham/status/1545374379252621312

The news of Abe’s passing, describing the leader in negative terms, is in line with the legacy media’s history of condemning dead conservative figures like conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and journalist Andrew Breitbart. 

The New York Times wrote, “Rush Limbaugh, Who Built Talk Radio Into Right-Wing Attack Machine, Dies.” 

In contrast, publications have been glowing in their descriptions of dead communists like Fidel Castro, whom the AP described as a “fiery Venezuelan leader.” 

On the day of former president Donald Trump’s successful liquidation of ISIS mastermind Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the Washington Post published an obituary describing the dead terrorist as an “austere scholar.”