Posted on 03/17/2005 2:06:17 PM PST by rightalien
With Dan Rather's departure from the CBS Evening News last week, there has been a lot of debate about whether or not there is a liberal bias in the mainstream media -- as if that were a debatable point. Some pundits and journalists argue that even if a liberal bias existed in the past, that those days ended with the rise of talk radio, Fox News and the blogs.
While I am ready to concede that these new media outlets are helping to bring balance to the presentation of news, I hold that the mainstream media still has an unmistakable liberal bias. For those following this transformation, I have come up with a few telltale signs that will signal the mainstream media has achieved a "fair and balanced" presentation of the news.
You will know the mainstream media is no longer biased...
...when the average American knows as much about what Sandy Berger stuffed into his pants, as they know about what Bill Clinton pulled out of his.
...when whistleblowers Linda Tripp and Manuel Miranda are treated by the media in a manner comparable to the way Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill and Joe Wilson were treated. (Don't know who Manuel Miranda is? Read on.)
...when the media reports the story of Senate Democrat Judiciary Committee memos as a story about elected officials admitting that they were against the nomination of Miguel Estrada because, among other things, "he is Latino," rather than as the story of a Senate staffer, Manuel Miranda improperly accessing documents the Democrats did not intend for public consumption.
...when every conservative judicial nominee is no longer referred to as "extreme" or "controversial" simply because they are opposed by the Democrats.
...when liberal pundits are labeled "liberal" on the television screen as consistently as Ann Coulter and other conservative pundits are labeled "conservative."
...when phrases like "big union," "big abortion," and "big trial lawyers" are as common as "big oil" and "big tobacco" in news stories.
...when there is as much of a rush to be the first to break the story of who forged the Bush National Guard memos as there was to run the pre-election report based on the fake documents.
I came up with that baker's half dozen without even addressing the way the mainstream media reports on the war, taxes or a myriad of other subjects. Until I start seeing changes like the ones listed above, I will not be convinced that liberal bias in the mainstream media has gone the way of the rotary phone.
Lorie Byrd blogs at PoliPundit.com.
No kidding!
The liberal bias will be well and alive when...................
The Queen of Darkness
Hillary Rotten Clinton
Her Royal Thighness
Chappaqua Rose
Lady in Pink
The Hildebeast
Wide Load
Rodham Hussein
Fat Bottomed Girl
Ol' Crusty
................. this "woman" is our President!
You forgot "Satan's Daughter." I used that on C-SPAN at the FReeper Victory Brunch in 2001.
You'll know the MSM isn't biased when they start to ask John Kerry where his signed form 180 is.
*****
The Beast
Madame Pantload
UtterFailure
Hillarrhea
HielHitlery
Hilla the Hun
The Lady McBeth of Little Rock
Mrs. Bent One
The Stalinist Cookie-Baker
The Queen of Darkness
Hillary Rotten Clinton
Hag-dad Hillary
Her Royal Thighness
Chappaqua Rose
Lady in Pink
Her Royal (Anus) Heinous
The Hildebeast
Wide Load
Rodham Hussein
Fat Bottomed Girl
Hillary Rotten Putrid
Ol' Crusty
Her Hideous Heinous
Shrillery Antoinette
Ms. Clintigula
Madame HamHocks
Her Royal Rotteness
Of course the mainstream media are Leftist! Don't forget
NPR, the N.Y. Times, Washington Post, etc. etc. The three
"mainstream" TV networks combined vastly outnumber the
total of cable viewers. But, the significant thing is that
the trend has changed. The mainstream no longer has its
NEWS MONOPOLY! These new demographics make all the difference. The things you cited - and that most FReepers and millions of others are aware of -- prove that the
alternative sources are being heeded. Thirty years ago
the entire news-viewing audience would sit down at 6:30
and hear the SAME old things on NBC, CBS. and ABC --
and think they had seen what was important and newsworthy.
That world is gone forever. People like Bernie Goldberg
and others (who were PART of that media game) have also
told us the truth of what was, and is, going on there.
There will ALWAYS be bias in the media -- but now we can
check, verify, and use our independent judgment to determine who or what is most reliable.
Laura Ingraham was here in Austin yesterday and she called her Hillry "Rob 'em" Clinton.
"Bias in the Media" makes more sense if recast as the perspective of journalism.To the extent that it can be styled a "bias," it is because of journalism's claim (predominantly made in mutual-admiration-society form) of objectivity. If you claim to be objective you are claiming (IMHO) to be wise. And if you claim to be wise, that claim trumps any necessity for you to seriously address facts and logic which tent to conclusions which would contradict your own conclusions.
So the real scandal of "bias in the media" is actually lack of competitive perspectives in "competing" media outlets. As to the reason for the leftist slant which the Establishment evinces, that is best explained as simple sensationalism - it is cheap bragadocio which insinuates that the constitutional way of doing things is far less wise than the mere second-guessing criticism, condemnation and complaint which journalism produces in such a facile manner.
Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate
The latest example of the continuing media liberal bias is the referral of Paul Wolfowitz as an administration "hardliner". Ever recall any Dem nominee referred to as a "hardliner" or an "arch" something or other? Just remember although the arch, hard-left, liberal media has been chastened recently by its egregious mistakes and scoundrels, it's still dominated by libs. And they haven't thrown in the towel.
Russert and the Old Media let Kerry take a 180 on his 180.
BTT!!!!!!
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