Demolishing the Myth of the Liberal Media By Jill Silos-Rooney, Ph.D. Conservatives in the United States love to claim that criticism of their policies and candidates should not be taken seriously because they come from the liberal media. They pose as victims of gotcha journalism that consistently portrays them inaccurately. Countless websites are dedicated to circulating this false construct, the most prominent including as Breitbart and Newsbusters, which is dedicated to exposing and combating liberal media bias. Its a great sound bite: pithy, dramatic, providing an easy scapegoat and, most importantly, distracting attention from very legitimate discussions about the flaws of their positions. Theres just one problem: its a lie. Objective analysis demonstrates that there is little evidence of a pervasive liberal bias targeted specifically at conservatives. In fact, there is much evidence against that accusation. Larry Light, the former senior editor for investment at Forbes magazine, writes, Regardless of its dubious merits, anti-media complaining is part of conservative orthodoxy. And it makes for very effective propaganda, relentlessly delivered, which has seeped into the popular culture -- to the point that a Gallup survey last fall found that 46 percent of the American people think the media are biased toward the left (37 percent believe that news folk play it down the middle). The Conservative Bias in Media Evidence suggests, though, that its liberals who should be worried, because conservatives clearly rule the airwaves. According to Talkers, the nations largest publication focusing on talk radio, the top five shows with the highest ratings on talk radio this month were all conservative: the programs hosted by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Christian financial expert Dave Ramsay, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage held the top five spots. Television news is similarly dominated by conservatives. Mediate reports, the second quarter of 2014 is over, and the cable news ratings numbers are in, along with the requisite spin from the big three networks. The perennial leader Fox News reached a new milestone, clocking its 50th straight quarter and 150th straight month at #1. FOX News is so pervasive it even has its own stores to promote its viewpoint. Are Journalists Biased to the Left? The right similarly contends that the news is controlled by liberal journalists, a claim supported by one Pew Research Foundation study that reported that more journalists identify as liberal than conservative. But as journalist Jeffrey A. Dvorkin argued on National Public Radio, that study is deeply flawed. He writes, First, the poll never asks exactly how personal political attitudes impact on the ability of journalists to do their job. In that sense, I think the poll may be a disservice. It implies - but never explains how or if bias has an impact on journalism. The poll simply assumes - as conservatives constantly point out - that bias makes its way into the journalism... More importantly in my opinion, the poll never asks about the political leanings of the media owners, publishers and upper management of news organizations. It is arguable that their politics are more influential than their employees in choosing the direction of a news organization. Interestingly, even if more journalists do have liberal political leanings, Media watchdog 4th Estate proves that it does not seem to make a difference when it comes to coverage of the news. The group, which works to replace anecdote and speculation about how the media covers important issues in our society with visual intelligence based on statistical analysis of the media, found that coverage of the 2012 election had a distinct conservative bias. In the 2012 election, Republicans were quoted in the media more than Democrats, at a rate of 59% compared to 41% for Democrats. They also found that there was 17% more negative coverage of President Obama than of conservative Republican candidate Mitt Romney. All of this proves that the ring wing accusation that the media has a liberal bias is nothing more than a myth - and a damaging one at that. The effect of these calculated and unsubstantiated claims is a damaging tendency to muzzle any actual debate. And thats exactly what the conservatives want: no debate, no discussion, and no resistance to their agenda. usliberals.about/od/essentialblogsmedia/fl/Demolishing-the-Myth-of-the-Liberal-Media.htm?nl=1
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 20:32:52 +0000
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