Posted on 07/03/2007 8:58:09 AM PDT by Kaput
Right-Wing Media Bias? by: Matt Hadro, July 03, 2007
Duncan Black, a noted internet blogger, recently offered his “liberal critique of the mainstream media” at the “Take Back America 2007” progressive conference. A member of the panel speaking on the topic “The Mainstream Media: Fair and Balanced?” Black dictated his reply to the complaints of American conservatives about liberal bias in the media. “Please do a better job,” he summarized his position on the mainstream media of today. The panel gathered to discuss the problems of truth and accuracy in the media, and counter-attacked the conservative movement to balance the media.
He illustrated the conservative argument as “liberals are biased, conservatives are not,” and then stated three key points of his “liberal critique of the mainstream media.”
First, he spoke of an unwritten rule in the mainstream media of “no liberals allowed on TV.” He cited news anchor and commentator Keith Olbermann as a possible exception to the rule, but added that the number of extreme liberal views he has promoted has been few, and MSNBC has not replaced him and his highly-rated broadcast with a more moderate candidate.
Secondly, Black revealed that there exists a fundamental belief in the mainstream media that the country is politically “center-right.” He gave examples of this widespread “bias,” stating that today’s media abandons the “religious left” while equating “values voters” with the right side of the political spectrum. The nation also has a massive anti-war movement, he said, which has yet to be fully covered by the mainstream media.
Black argued that in present-day media coverage “the trivial is elevated” in politics. Instead of covering important policies of the government, the conservative media trivializes politics “like a show.” Black cited an example, where political commentator Chris Matthews remarked that Presidential candidate Fred Thompson “smells nice,” instead of commenting on what Thompson’s true political agenda is. Conservatives, he continued, were worried sick about John Edwards’ $400 haircut, and were thus distracted from the pressing issues of the moment.
Richard Wolffe, Newsweek’s senior White House correspondent, seconded Black’s argument. He argued that the conservative base in America consistently complains of a liberally-biased “imbalance” in press coverage. The role of the journalist, he stated, is to see all the sides, present all the sides, and then guide the reader through this complicated world, adding “the world is big enough for all of us.” The truth in news must be objective, not conceptualized as “balanced,” added Craig Crawford, contributing editor for Congressional Quarterly.
“Fairness and balance are not the same,” noted Dan Froomkin, writer of washingtonpost.com’s “White House Watch” column. “In the mainstream media, fairness is a virtue, balance is not.”
Matt Hadro is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
If you would like to comment on this article, please e-mail mal.kline@academia.org
I guess this guy is further to the left than Olbermann if he considers Kieth a moderate. He must really be wacked out.
Wow, I thought this was scrappleface.
He is wrong on every point.
Strangely, the article left me wanting.
Is the writer Chinese?
What right wing?..
There currently is ZERO right wing in America..
They have ALL gone mute...
Alice in Wonderland?
Proof positive that liberals in the media feel they're better than everyone else and the "little people" must be guided.
This article needs a BIG barf warning.
The anti-war left can’t even get 5,000 people to an anti-war rally when they were expecting 100,000 but we constantly hear about how America is anti-war.
LOL. An intern for AIM. The modern equivalent of the guy who mops the booths at the girlie peep shows in the 70's.
Hmm...I didnt know interns were paid to have opinions..
Wow! I didn't know.
LOL. An intern for AIM. The modern equivalent of the guy who mops the booths at the girlie peep shows in the 70’s.
Good one.Our poster is pimping his site quite a bit when I looked as his profile.
Hmmmmmm............
He must have escaped an alternative universe if he can say “conservative media” and “Chris Matthews”, in the same sentence.
Amazing. I didn't know kool-aid came in 'shroom flavor.
Where bias and cluelessness intersect
MSNBC features a report on the campaign contributions by MSM journalists. The report is based on the public records of the Federal Election Commission. I doubt anyone will be surprised to learn that of the 144 journalists who made political contributions from 2004 through the start of the 2008 campaign, 125 journalists gave to Democrats and liberal causes...the notion that the press corps as a whole can be unbiased, fair, and objective would be fanciful even if it were not contradicted on a daily basis by its work product...The MSNBC piece confirms just how fanciful. It notes that "The Ethicist" at the New York Times equates the degree of ideological fervor reflected in his contribution to MoveOn.org with that of coaching Little League, donating to the Boy Scouts, or joining the Catholic Church. Journalists this clueless couldn't keep their bias out of a story even if they wanted to. To comment on this post, go here. Permalink
I've documented the overwhelming leftwing bias of the media for years & years:
Actually guys, it’s me here, who wrote the article. I have to admit it wasn’t one of my best ones, because I clearly didn’t make my point. My point was to throw out all the ridiculous quotes those liberals (posing as moderates) made, to unveil the ridiculousness of their argument. Yes there is conservative media bias, but it is clearly trumped by the widespread liberal media bias of today. I should have thrown in some points to illustrate that.
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