LIBERAL MEDIA

Media biased?

It's rare to hear the word "media" without the word "liberal" in front of it.

In trying to find facts about media bias, I have thus far been unable to locate a media watch group without its own bias. Those that are liberal reject the idea of a liberal bias in the media. Those that are conservative assume a liberal bias. Both offer evidence to support their positions. Here are two examples:

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (liberal)

Accuracy in Media (conservative)

Does it matter?

In the abstract, we seek The Truth. In the abstract, we want our media to reveal The Truth. Alas, we do not enjoy consensus on what constitutes The Truth. And even if we did, a favorite quote of mine comes in handy: The truth is a shady spot where we eat our lunch before moving on. (E.G. Williamson) That is, agreement on The Truth - like Love - is not always enough.

Setting aside the abstract of The Truth, then:

Decrying the media as liberal or conservative benefits some of us all of the time and most of us some of the time.

The media serve as a convenient scapegoat for groups interested in establishing a Them Against Us construct.

We ordinary folks find it convenient to assign bias to a news source when we disagree with or cannot process the information the news source provides on an issue that triggers us emotionally.

Thus it may not matter so much if the media have a political bias. What may matter more is our political bias as news consumers.

But anyway ...

Here is a thoughtful essay on the subject of media bias by Dr. Andrew Cline in his Rhetorica Network. An excerpt from the essay:

Is the news media biased toward liberals? Yes. Is the news media biased toward conservatives? Yes. These questions and answers are uninteresting because it is possible to find evidence--anecdotal and otherwise--to "prove" media bias of one stripe or another. Far more interesting and instructive is ...

Hopefully, my contrived cliffhanger will entice you over to the full essay.