Media Bias and the Politics of News

Peace Studies

Effort: 90-100%.

I can’t put 100, one

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Media Bias?

In my last paper I discussed the presence of presence of bias in four news sources in light of US military operations in Iraq. I found what I interpreted as a generally patriotic tone in headlines as well as in the actual articles. In broader context, this might be described as part of the pervading conservative bias evident in today’s media. Conversely, I have seen claims that the media is dominated by a blatantly liberal bias, referring to “the liberal media.” How can two perfectly contradictory arguments simultaneously claim validity?

Backing up a bit, what exactly does it mean to say that “the media” as a whole has some sort of partisan bias? For the purposes of this paper the focus will be on news media. Is every person participating in the process of informing the public biased in the same way? My immediate reaction is that there are people at different levels and positions in media organizations with differing views. Generally speaking, reporters, and those “on the ground” tend to lean to the liberal side, while owners and higher ups lean conservative. Therefore each side argues that one component achieves a greater influence over the final product; perhaps liberals write as they please uncensored for untruth, or conservatives trim news of inconvenient facts. This puts the issue in a form that makes more sense to me.

In my research of opinions on media bias, I stumbled upon a website dedicated solely to scouring the media for bias. The site is called “The Media Research Center.” The site is bursting with evidence of media bias, but not just any kind of bias. There exists only one type of bias, and that is liberal. The utterly uncompromising nature of the site was somewhat of a turn-off, but I searched further, intrigued. Such confidence must have some cold indisputable facts to back it up, I thought. I wanted to see this. A section entitled “Media Bias Basics” appeared to have what I was seeking: 9,000 words detailing surveys, studies, and statistics apparently proving the existence of liberal media bias.

The section begins with something a sensible human being might agree with: “it is vital to American democracy that television news and other media be fair and unbiased.” I agree. The next paragraph states that “Conservatives believe the mass media, predominantly television news programs, slant reports in favor of the liberal position on issues.” I agree with this too; conservatives do think that way. It goes on to claim that “most Americans” believe as conservatives believe, with “data” in support. The data consisted of a series of polls conducted in 1997 by the Pew Research for The People & The Press. The first survey cited shows that high and increasing percentages of Americans see bias in news organizations. Yet in the actual framing of the questions, key parts were left out. From what I can see, Americans agree upon the existence of bias and favoritism on issues, and that’s it. There is nothing about where the bias is or with whom the bias exists. It appears that the survey was phrased so as to imply that the subject was media and news organizations, but not explicitly say so. The possibility also arises that pollsters inserted specific biased organizations instead of the broad terms of “media” and “news organizations” to extract desired responses, and that the Media Research Center surgically removed those names, thus necessitating the broken quotes.

The next stat I cannot understand the significance of. It basically says that Republicans say news organizations favor one side more than Democrats or Independents, although large majorities all three think this way. Following that gibberish is a variation of the first question: most people don’t think that news organizations “get the facts straight.” This isn’t new evidence. It doesn’t hurt their case, but the redundancy leads me to think less of the entire text.

The fifth and final statistic shown from the 1997 Pew study is the most ridiculous. This one represents those who have a negative view of TV network news. Fifty percent could not figure out why they were not satisfied. Fourteen percent listed “news is biased,” seven percent said “give opinions not facts,” and three percent said “too liberal.” Somehow this astounding evidence is supposed to make a case for the conservatives. Twenty-four percent (14+7+3) of those who view TV news unfavorably implied that such networks are unfair in their presentation of news. That doesn’t prove much. The closing comment, though, is the kicker: “conservative bias didn’t even make the list.” First, twenty-six percent is not accounted for. That’s twenty-six percent that “didn’t make the list.” The fact that a fourth of the results are not represented doesn’t comfort me much, and indeed leads me to suspect that one man’s “news reporters lie” is another man’s “too liberal.” Even if the survey was conducted honestly, the slant put on it is dishonest, since “too liberal” and conservative bias results really only differ by three percent.

Funny I should be so critical and cynical regarding an argument I don’t necessarily have a large problem with. Perhaps most people do think the media is not completely objective in its presentation of issues and events. After all, I think so. Yet by the second paragraph of the section, I am already disturbed. I will be highly suspicious as I read on.

I find the public opinion polls utterly unconvincing as evidence of liberal bias, although effective as evidence of bias. The third paragraph brings to light the partisan tendencies of journalists. Judging by the various and redundant surveys shown in bar and pie graph form, reporters, journalists, and editors tend to be liberal and democratic. Members of the media reply that professionally they are neutral, and that they report objectively regardless of personal views. Of course the counter-argument is that this is simply impossible, and biases enter into everything the media does. Liberal bias in the news media is a reality that unconsciously taints coverage and debate. In order to present the truth, news media reports need to be politically balanced.

I have analyzed the introductory paragraphs of “Media Bias Basics,” and the rest of the section is full of graphs, charts, surveys statistics, and various instances of liberal bias. The arguments presented are sound but in ignorance of one thing: journalists and editors are not the only people involved in the news media. Who is in charge of the journalists’ and editors’ paychecks? Who hires and fires? These people surely have a significant power in the news media. Additionally, most of today’s TV news networks are merged with or owned by major entertainment companies. Much more needs to be taken into account on the issue of a dominating media bias, and this site falls pathetically short. Do what degree is a “media research center” that documents the media’s bias dependable if the center itself has painfully biased views? An argument that presents the facts in black and white is entirely unconvincing in my eyes, and it should be for anyone. Inevitably a black and white scenario has some gray underneath. Such is far from asserting that everything is gray and that those who have strong opinions are fools and fanatics. On the contrary, the case can be made that although gray is composed of both black and white, this particular shade is mostly white, and on the whole, white elements dominate the picture. Rhetoric that is less accusatory and alienating might attract more listeners. Opposition would hear their points being taken into consideration. And maybe, just maybe, paint a more complete picture for those still forming opinions.

Thirty million Americans 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.

Conservatives believe the mass media, predominantly television news programs, slant reports in favor of the liberal position on issues. Most Americans agree, as the data below indicate. Yet many members of the media continue to deny a liberal bias.

Evidence of how hard journalists lean to the left was provided by S. Robert Lichter, then with George Washington University, in his groundbreaking 1980 survey of the media elite. Lichter's findings were authoritatively confirmed by the American Association of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) in 1988 and 1997 surveys. The most recent ASNE study surveyed 1,037 newspaper reporters found 61 percent identified themselves as/leaning "liberal/Democratic" compared to only 15 percent who identified themselves as/leaning "conservative/Republican."

With the political preferences of the press no longer secret, members of the media argued while personally liberal, they are professionally neutral. They argued their opinions do not matter because as professional journalists, they report what they observe without letting their opinions affect their judgment. But being a journalist is not like being a surveillance camera at an ATM, faithfully recording every scene for future playback. Journalists make subjective decisions every minute of their professional lives. They choose what to cover and what not to cover, which sources are credible and which are not, which quotes to use in a story and which to toss out.

Liberal bias in the news media is a reality. It is not the result of a vast left-wing conspiracy; journalists do not meet secretly to plot how to slant their news reports. But everyday pack journalism often creates an unconscious "groupthink" mentality that taints news coverage and allows only one side of a debate to receive a fair hearing. When that happens, the truth suffers. That is why it is so important news media reports be politically balanced, not biased.

The Media Research Center regularly documents the national media's ongoing liberal bias — and has since 1987. For a look at media bias in the last decade, the last year or even last night, check the MRC homepage.

The information that follows relays the political composition of the media — voting patterns, political affiliations and beliefs — as expressed to researchers by the reporters themselves. This is followed by a review of public opinion on liberal media bias, and what members of the media have said about liberal media bias, and a guide to how to identify liberal media bias.