Posted on 09/22/2006 6:12:39 PM PDT by infoguy
On his radio show yesterday (Thursday, September 21, 2006), host Hugh Hewitt interviewed Thomas B. Edsall, who up until recently was a senior political reporter for the Washington Post. He had been with the paper for 25 years. Through precise and direct questioning by Hewitt, Edsall admitted something that is rarely heard from a liberal these days. In a shocking admission, Edsall articulated that the biases of the mainstream media are "overwhelmingly to the left." He also proposed that Democratic reporters outnumber Republicans "in the range of 15-25 to 1"!
In the interview, as Hewitt and Edsall discussed the rise of conservative talk radio and the biases of the mainstream media, Edsall stated the following:
EDSALL: ... I agree that whatever you want to call it, mainstream media, presents itself as unbiased, when in fact, there are built into it many biases, and they are overwhelmingly to the left.
Hewitt appeared so surprised by the remark that, after a pause, he replied, "Well, that's very candid." Candid, indeed, Hugh!
But, wait. There's more.
On the topic of the political allegiances of "big name political reporters," the following exchange took place:
HEWITT: [Jim Vandehei of the Washington Post] probably is a Republican. But given that number of reporters out there, is it ten to one Democrat to Republican? Twenty to one Democrat to Republican?
EDSALL: It’s probably in the range of 15-25:1 Democrat.
Whoa! The must-read transcript of this eye-opener is at Hugh Hewitt's blog at TownHall.com. Must-hear audio is available here.
In addition to his years at the Washington Post, Edsall has penned pieces for the American Prospect and The New Republic. One of his most recent works is a book called Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power. It has been billed as a "masterful--and disturbing--work of political journalism that challenges all of us to wake up and take heed before the world has changed beyond recognition."
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Here's more from the exchange in which Edsall admitted the MSM's bias is "overwhelmingly to the left." Again, this is from Hugh Hewitt's blog at TownHall.com:
HEWITT: ... The reason talk radio exploded, followed by Fox News, followed by the center-right blogosphere, is that because folks like you have been the dominant voice in American media for a long time, and you’re a pretty thoroughgoing, Democratic favoring, agenda journalist for the left, and you’ve been the senior political reporter of the Washington Post for a very long time. And people didn’t trust your news product…not you, personally, but the accumulation of you, throughout the L.A. Times, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and they got sick and tired of being spoon fed liberal dross, and they went to the radio when an alternative product came along.
EDSALL: To a certain degree, I agree with that.
HEWITT: And so, why do you think it’s wrong, somehow, for people to want to hear news that they don’t consider as biased? I mean, that’s what it is. It’s just unbiased news is what people wanted. That’s why conservatives like me got platforms, and our blogs get read, and our columns get absorbed.
EDSALL: One, I don’t think it’s unbiased.
HEWITT: It’s transparent at least. Everyone has bias. I agree with that. Everyone’s got bias.
EDSALL: It’s transparent. Okay, that I would agree. And I agree that whatever you want to call it, mainstream media, presents itself as unbiased, when in fact, there are built into it many biases, and they are overwhelmingly to the left.
HEWITT: Well, that’s very candid.
EDSALL: Well…
HEWITT: Have you ever said that…in the course…when you were working for the Post, would you tell people who you voted for, and how liberal you were?
EDSALL: You mean people people?
Have a nice weekend.
Not news, except it is news when one of them admits it.
I see Arkanside in his future.
They'll have to Arkancide this guy before he says any more.
In no way surprised, ping.
That is a shock!
duh
What other kind of people are there?
Dude...you're in big trouble for that piece of honesty. Thanks, though. But now watch your back.
>>EDSALL: You mean people people?<<
By "people people" he probably means "my kind of people," the liberal elite, as opposed to the unwashed ignorant masses in flyover country.
/sarc
This guy, Edsal, when he goes on his radio and tv interviews, will probably say that he was just putting Hewitt on because that's what Hewitt was wanting and looking to hear.
15 or 25:1 - I'm going on memory here, but I believe in Barbara Bush'a autobiography she said something like 4 or 5 of the 100 or so reporters in the pool admitted to voting for GHWB.
Had to bookmark this for future reference. The leftwing is so blantantly dishonest. The only thing shocking is every once in a blue moon, one says something remotely honest.
"The media, I think, want Kerry to win. And I think they're going to portray Kerry and Edwards . . . as being young and dynamic and optimistic and all, there's going to be this glow about them that is going to be worth, collectively, the two of them, that's going to be worth maybe 15 points."
journalists from outside the Beltway picked Mr. Kerry 3 to 1, and the ones from Washington favored him 12 to 1.
Didn't some high ranking member of the national media say back in 2004 that the media was worth 10 or 15 points for Kerry?
Ever once in a while, they will drop the pretense and admit what is obvious.
Don't read into this that Edsall is repentant. Like a rattler, he will strike back.
No one is to be considered "objective" who questions the objectivity of reporters. That is a violation of journalism's self-definition. Thomas B. Edsall has read himself out of the "objective journalism" guild.The reality is, of course, that it is arrogant to assume you know what is objective.
Great idea. This one will come in handy the next time someone tries to challenge the reality of liberal media bias.
BTTT
If the MSM was fair, we'd never lose an election. The MSM knows it. The Dims know it.
Owning the MSM is the Left's greatest accomplishment, followed by owning the educational system and dominating most municipal governments.
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