Posted on 11/29/2001 1:16:07 AM PST by jesda
A question often raised, typically by conservatives, is whether the media is self-censoring and liberal-biased.
But with GE as parent of CBS and Murdoch as chief of Fox, is it truly accurate to claim that our news media have a slant towards Democrats, liberals, and the left? GE, after all, gains much from conservatives in power thanks to military contracts. Murdoch himself is a well-known conservative, running magazines such as The Weekly Standard.
With such factors in mind, it would seem more logical to conclude there is a conservative bias.
Indpendent watchdog-type organizations, such as Media Research Center, keep an archive of audio clips, videos, and articles to help prove their case, that the media panders to the left. Unfortunately, they make the mistake of lumping entertainment programs such as talk shows and variety shows, into the same category as news. Thats as flawed and invalid as liberals attempting to claim conservatives get their news from Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh is "infotainment," like Entertainment Tonight with a political focus.
While some reports by MRC are profound and thought-provoking, most appear paranoid and pull biases from which they originally did not exist. The following is taken from an MRC CyberAlert:
"Reporting on John Ashcroft’s announcement about the number of persons being held in the post-September 11 investigations, ABC’s Peter Jennings emphasized how "some of the charges are for very minor violations." NBC’s Tom Brokaw stressed questions about "whether the Bush administration is violating civil rights."
It seems MRC believes any questioning of the administration, no matter how legitimate, is a display of left-wing bias. I personally agree with the Bush administration's execution of the war thus far, but for MRC to claim it is leftist and biased to question authority, is irresponsible. They are claiming the role the media did when it buttered up to Clinton in the 90s, and serving as the lapdogs of power.
Perhaps MRC has a conservative "bias."
CBS News correspondent Bernard Goldberg, in a February 13, 1996 Wall Street Journal editorial, declares the perceived liberal bias to be obvious and prevalent.
"There are lots of reasons fewer people are watching network news, and one of them, I'm more convinced than ever, is that our viewers simply don't trust us. And for good reason. The old argument that the networks and other 'media elites' have a liberal bias is so blatantly true that it's hardly worth discussing anymore.
"No, we don't sit around in dark corners and plan strategies on how we're going to slant the news. We don't have to. It comes naturally to most reporters."
Unquestionably, the media is hell-bent on political correctness so they dont offend their key audience -- stupid people. It just happens to be that catering to stupid people is exactly the same as espousing left-wing views.
They collectivly view all individual problems as social problems when the fact is the only way anybody can solve most of these problems, is if the people who have them fix them by themselves. To fools in TV land, this feels good, because no one's feelings are hurt. To the left-wing side of politics, this is public policy and a strong belief.
The media today falls all over themselves to report whatever the government tells them, and asking loaded questions such as, "Mr. Clinton, do you think the Republicans are on a witch hunt?" To which Mr. Clinton responds, "Why, yes, yes they are."
As lapdogs for power, such journalists think they perform a public service. Conservatives think they are somehow liberal for doing so, when in reality they will eat out of the hands of anyone who will feed them, regardless of ideology.
I believe it is safe to say there is no left-wing media bias. There is, however, a bias towards stupidity, appealing to the lowest common denominator, and kissing up to authority.
Then again, all of those characteristics sound a lot like liberalism anyway.
Full article...
Jesda Gulati is producer of The Political Fire, a radio show that airs in Spokane and is expanding to Seattle, Berkeley, Cambridge, Orlando, and Vancouver.
Past guests include Les Knight, Ann Coulter, and Debbie Schlussel.
Look at republicans, they call Jeffords and liberal Republicans "moderates"... following their logic, they should call Traficant & Zell Miller "moderates", not "conservatives"
Also count number of times you hear "pro-life" instead of "anti-choice" or "anti-abortion"
Also count number of times they called Gary Condit a Democrat vs. Bob Packward a Republican... they always call Condit a conservative and I've seen them put "R - California" when captioning him... R for Representative... very misleading
Also, I remember when Campbell and the other senator switched over to the GOP... the media didn't call them "independents", "mavericks", "going against the establishment" or any of the high praise they had for Jeffords.
Get a grip.
It seems MRC believes any questioning of the administration, no matter how legitimate, is a display of left-wing bias.
See, see the spin, if they were reporting on Reno everything would be A-OK.
It's not what they report but what they don't report.
This whole article is an example of liberal bias.
Who ya gonna believe?
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (50 minute video)
Here are sources for Media bias:
-Reed Irvine's Accuracy in Media
Is it soooo hard for an almost actor to report the facts with a straight face and atonal voice, you expect biases out of political pundits but not the anchors and field reporters. We could have put a rubber Bubba mask on them and get less facial bias than they gave. Lester Holt was a real dolt and that she-biatch in the red "perky" hair..well lets not even talk about her.
It's safe to say it.......but that doesn't make it so. Where do you see yourself on the left-Right political spectrum?
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