It's clear why the economic theories don't work towards "non-biased" reporting, leftists are meddlers who are drawn to journalism. There is therefore a large non-monetary incentive for the news to be biased to the left, counterbalancing the monertary incentive of maximizing paid advertising.
Air America, I rest my case.
One of the most curious and surprising statistics in all of American politics is that an overwhelming number of journalists are liberal . . .IOW, "The fox says he guards the chicken coop. Ergo, it is surprising that chickens disappear from the coop when the fox is 'on duty'."The reason this statistic is curious and surprising is that many consider the media the watchdog of government, sometimes calling it the ¡°Fourth Branch of American Government.¡± If so, it is by far the least representative of the branches.
Our greatest accomplishment as a profession is the development since World War II of a news reporting craft that is truly non-partisan, and non-ideological, and that strives to be independent of undue commercial or governmental influence....It is that legacy we must protect with our diligent stewardship. To do so means we must be aware of the energetic effort that is now underway to convince our readers that we are ideologues. It is an exercise of, in disinformation, of alarming proportions. This attempt to convince the audience of the world¡¯s most ideology-free newspapers that they¡¯re being subjected to agenda-driven news reflecting a liberal bias. I don¡¯t believe our viewers and readers will be, in the long-run, misled by those who advocate biased journalism.¡± ¨C New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines accepting the ¡°George Beveridge Editor of the Year Award¡± at a National Press Foundation dinner shown live on C-SPAN2 February 20, 2003.when it comes to free publicity, some of the major broadcast media are simply biased in favor of the Republicans, while the rest tend to blur differences between the parties. But that¡¯s the way it is. Democrats should complain as loudly about the real conservative bias of the media as the Republicans complain about its entirely mythical bias¡ --Paul Krugman, ¡°Into the Wilderness,¡± New York Times, November 8, 2002.
"The mainstream media does not have a liberal bias. . . . ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and the rest -- at least try to be fair." --Al Franken. (2003, xx) Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.
Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate