Purpose: This study evaluates stances toward and characterizations of bilingual education by US editorial and letter-to-the-editor writers from 2006-2016 with references to perspectives offered in academic outputs. We are principally interested in bilingual education that supports English language proficiency (rather than heritage language proficiency). Methodology: A documentary analysis was conducted on a sample of articles collected from six major US news outlets, and compared to academic articles from the ERIC database. These results were compared with those of McQuillan and Tse (1996) who examined a similar set of articles published from 1984-1994. We classified articles according to the author's position on bilingual education, and collected data on the program type and target language(s) being discussed. Ruíz' (1984) orientations in language planning were used to analyze characterizations of bilingualism and bilingual education. Findings: It was found that 45% of media articles, compared to 95% of research articles were in favor of bilingual education. The rate of pro-bilingual education academic articles increased in 2006-2016. Fewer media authors overall cited academic studies to support their position. Proponents of language-as-right were found to have increased, though language-as-resource arguments remained the most prevalent.