Liberal Bias In The Media

"SEVENTY MILLION AMERICANS," begins a report on media bias, "rely on broadcast television for their news. They form opinions based on what they hear and see and to a lesser extent, read. Since citizens cannot cast informed votes or make knowledgeable decisions on matters of public policy if the information on which they depend is distorted, it is vital to American democracy that television news and other media be fair and unbiased."

Many different kinds of research have shown a bias toward a liberal agenda in most mainstream news media. You can read the full report here: Media Bias Research Report. But I will give you a condensed version. (A good book on the topic is Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media. Read our review of it here.)

The Kaiser Family Foundation survey in 2001 found that members of the media were four times as likely to identify themselves as "liberal" than as "conservative." Similarly, the survey found that members of the media were more than seven times more likely to identify themselves as "Democrat" than as "Republican." The poll questioned 1,206 members of the public, 300 "policy makers" and 301 "media professionals, including reporters and editors from top newspapers, TV and radio networks, news services and news magazines."

Look at the difference below between the leanings
of the public and the leanings of the media.

Media bias is nothing new, of course. During the Civil War, the Northern press were brutal in criticizing the president and his generals, which caused alarm and despair in the Union population. The media's negative bias and its bias against war in effect worked in favor of the Confederates by demoralizing the Union's population and making young men in the North hesitant about joining the fight.

And the same is true now. The mainstream, liberal media helps the cause of terrorists. I'm sure most of them have no intention of doing so, but the nature of the business forces them to do what works or go unpublished. That's the way it is. No sense blaming the media. It is helpful, however, to know about it, and mentally compensate for it.