posted September 17, 2008
With both presidential conventions concluded, we've once again entered that classic struggle between liberal media bias and the conservative movement that crops up every four years. Online forums of all stripes are rife with 'derogatory MSM derogatory' constructions, and we've seen a few of them here on the Chattanoogan as well.
It's fun to beat up on the media in a shoot the messenger kind of way. Unemployment up? Then hate the newspaper that publishes the statistic. Turns out the VP candidate didn't really oppose that Bridge to Nowhere? Get mad at the nosy reporter that dug up the information to begin with.
Clearly, there are hyper-partisan forces running amok in that not-so-monolithic entity we refer to as "the media." Keith Olbermann at MSNBC? Straight liberal. Sean Hannity at Fox News? A staunch
conservative. Both skew information to fit a political narrative and preach to their respective choirs. Are they entertaining? You bet. Are they journalists? No way.
When we characterize a large and diverse industry by a few fringe elements, we are dealing hyperbole as gospel.
Joe Scarborough, a former GOP Congressman, hosts one of MSNBC's highest-rated shows. Fox's Brit Hume swings to the left from time to time. ABC's Charlie Gibson has been tough on both the Democratic and Republican candidates. And honestly, who didn't think Tucker Bounds was dodging Campbell Brown's questions a few weeks ago on CNN?
Two of my favorite columnists at the New York Times are David Brooks (a fiscal conservative) and Bill Kristol (the papa bear of neo-conservatism). While the Wall Street Journal was questioning the
legitimacy of McCain's vetting process, the Washington Post ran a puff-piece toting the campaign narrative verbatim.
If you don't like The Nation, read Weekly Standard. If you're tired of Huffington Post, check out Townhall. Do you think Daily Kos contributors are crazy? Wait. Most liberals agree with you. But the Drudge Report isn't exactly a boilerplate of integrity either.
Unless conservatives want to start talking the Fairness Doctrine, this liberal-media conspiracy is a complete wash. We live in the information age. There are literally thousands of websites, blogs, talkshow hosts, newspapers and magazines that cater to your personal worldview. The only
real bias in the media is towards a bottom line. So take heart that you are someone's target demographic and change the channel.
David Morton
Chattanooga
david@safeguy.net
* * *
David Morton is right that we should change the channel when we don't want to see and, by implication, approve of the media bias.
More, though, we should let them know we object to their bias. And we should let their sponsors know.
Mr. Morton is wrong, however, when he says "The only real bias in the media is towards a bottom line."
Though I have no use for either of the two old-party candidates, though in fact I strongly oppose both of them, I am still able to see a very blatant bias, mostly against McCain and somewhat for Obama, especially on MSNBC and CNN.
I don't watch Fox with any regularity, but other than that silly Sean Hannity's favoritism to McCain, the channel itself seems to offer balance, although like the others it does apparently ignore all the other choices.
I saw, on CNN I think, some reporter from time.com use the term "lies" in referring to the McCain campaign, hardly non-biased reporting. I saw Campbell Brown, on CNN, spouting her own bias while supposedly reporting on the McCain campaign.
Granted, one of the CNN channels has Glenn Beck, but his is not labeled a "news" program.
MSNBC has both Keith Olberman and a leftist woman from Air America filling an hour each night with hate editorializing masquerading as news.
To be fair, MSNBC also has Joe Scarborough in the morning, but I haven't seen the show to know if it is as right-oriented as the other two are left, but from what I know, or think I know, of him, I can't believe he or his show would be as mean-spirited as the other two.
NPR continues to be the most blatantly biased radio network, and continues to receive tax dollars. It might occasionally have a non-left commentator, but the comment will be labeled as such and the dishonest "news" is still falsely labeled.
The local "news" paper has had zero news articles on the new-party or independent candidates. And its two editorial pages ignore the other choices.
Sure, if one looks, one can find all sorts of websites with which one can agree, no matter what one's opinion.
Alas, getting non-biased "news" reporting, though, is almost impossible.
If one does not already know of the other choices, if one doesn't make a serious effort to find the truth of the old-party candidates and their campaigns, one will be either misinformed or not informed at all.
I spent many years as a journalist, and I can tell Mr. Morton and other readers that bias is indeed very real in the media.
Michael Morrison
East Ridge
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Mr. Morton, your attempt to show media bias is biased to the point that you have no credibility. You say you "don't watch Fox news regularly" but then you say that the channel itself "seems to offer balance" except for Sean Hannity. First, if you don't watch Fox news regularly, how can you make an informed statement on how biased it is? If you watch it more, you might notice that there are many commentators and pundits on Fox news that are just as biased toward Sen. McCain as Sean Hannity is.
You then go on to say the organizations like NPR and CNN are unfairly biased toward liberals. So to me, it seems like you don't think news organizations are biased unless they do all their reporting from a conservative point of view which is what Fox news does.
Also, you say when CNN uses the term lie in referring to the McCain campaign, it is being biased. Are you saying that if McCain continues to espouse a fact that has been proved to be untrue, no one in the media should call it a lie? Did you give Bill Clinton that same latitude when he lied about having sex with that woman, or does bias apply only when the press says something bad about conservatives?
Robert Pregulman
Seattle, Wa.
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