Paul Waldman is writer and senior fellow at Media Matters. His most recent book is Free Ride: John McCain and the Media, coauthored with David Brock.
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Paul Waldman, author and Senior Fellow for Media Matters, a liberal media watchdog group. Waldman shares his thoughts on why progressive media criticism is “not about bias.”
Unlike our counterparts on the right, we don’t have one simple answer to every question having to do with the news media. We don’t believe the media are irredeemably “biased,” or that reporters have hidden agendas and we can tell you what they are.
What you won’t find is relentless accusations that reporters, commentators, or news outlets are “biased.” When we do an item on something that appeared in the news media, it’s because we can demonstrate that it was false or misleading, not because we just don’t like it.
We have to grant, however, that the right’s sustained accusation of “bias” is both a powerful organizing tool (sustaining their supporters’ belief that people are out to get them) and an effective way of “working the refs.” Knowing that they face constant charges of bias, reporters respond by bending over backward to show how tough they can be on progressives and Democrats.
But in recent years the right wing has undertaken an assault not only on what they perceive as coverage unfavorable to their cause, but on the very idea of objective news. Conservatives have become the true post-modernists, arguing that any news presentation that reflects badly on Republicans must have a “liberal bias” – that there are no facts, only their (right) opinion and everyone else’s (wrong) opinion.
lots of people – including journalists - don’t watch Bill O’Reilly, listen to Rush Limbaugh, or read Ann Coulter, so they have no idea just what kind of bile issues forth from these and other sources every day. One of the most striking imbalances in American media today is the way extremism and hate from the right are tolerated and even lauded, while there is nothing remotely comparable on the left. Take Coulter, who regularly advocates the murder of people with whom she disagrees. Is there anyone on the left who does the same, and is given the media megaphones she gets?
The "Reverend" Al Sharpton. Not only does he advocate the murder of people with which he disagrees, he's actually incited mobs that have done it. And he gets a pass.
Ninety percent of journalists vote Democratic. No bias, right?
Ninety percent of journalists vote Democratic. No bias, right?
Classic case of projecting on the partof this liberal.