Why is there an obvious liberal bias in the media?

Answer 1

When polled, 60% of "news people" admit to having a liberal leaning. Pretty simple. Fox News pisses people off. The liberals thought they had the news cornered.

Answer 2

I've heard it all now! Liberal bias indeed! Just because people are finally getting really fed up with this administration, including a pretty fair amount of Republicans and Conservatives, that doesn't mean that there is liberal bias. I have news for you... the mass media, ALL of it, is owned by billionaires. When even they have had enough of this incompetent and dysfunctional administration and they see that things are worse than they've ever been and all of our priorities are screwed up beyond all control, it's time for some fair and impartial reporting. We are still a republic (or a democracy), not an oligarchy, an imperial state, or a fascist regime. This administration has not represented the 275 million of us who make up this Country for five years and six months now. They've only represented the 230,000 wealthiest and/or most powerful people in this Country, especially the Offense Industry and Big Business. Our two highest ranking elected officials and our highest ranking appointees have done their very best to remove us, and even Congress and the Senate, from our democratic process, and without that, there is no freedom or liberty or justice for all. They've also ignored and trampled the Constitution and the Bill of Rights since the alleged election of 2000. It has not gotten any better since 9/11. Liberal bias, indeed. People are just ready to have a President again, not a military junta. This administration has never once put the people first, not once in any instance. That is not a democracy. This administration has harmed the integrity, credibility, and diplomacy of this Great Nation beyond all hope in the eyes of the world, and, in many cases, even in our own eyes. It's been nothing but lies since the opening days of this administration and there has been no accountability or anything bordering on reality or rationality from any high-ranking government official for so long that even the most jaded cannot say with clear conscience that our problems are being caused by a liberal media. I'm forty-nine and this Country has not even been close to being in as bad shape as it is right now. And it will be far, far worse by 2008 when we have our next hope for a meaningful change.

Answer 3

Yes it is true the NY Times, CNN and CBS are just media outlets for the Democrat Party. They are always going to attack all conservatives with disinformation and propaganda just like Provda attempted to prop up the Politburo in the 70’s and 80’s. They will also produce countless puff pieces to promote their buddies on the left.

The problem for the Dems is that the people have gotten wise to the left wing bias in the news. Do you remember when Bill Clinton was first running for President? He said in 1992 that, “The US economy is in the worst recession since the great depression.” When in fact we had just come off the largest 15 year economic growth spurt the country had ever seen. The news media of the day ate it up and reported as though it was fact checked and found to be unassailable. They never questioned this obvious lie.

But, that would never fly today. So, the new media has to be more sophisticated in reporting their biases as facts. That is why you see all these push polls in the news nowadays. The news story usually goes like this: “We have just conducted a poll of 1,500 liberals and the ‘public’ is saying that we should pull out of Iraq right away…”

But, now the public is wise to even these types of tactics. We know that these polls are conducted for propaganda purposes by the left wing journalists and that they are attempting to steer public opinion not report it.

All this spells trouble for the Democrat Party. For the past 70 years the Democrats were able to hold on to power and socialize the economy with the help of their willing accomplices in the news media. Now that this propaganda is ringing hollow with the American People, the Democrats have lost control of all three branches of government and their grip on power is slipping every day. It’s a long ways down from here and their friends in the news media will not be able to cushion the fall.

Answer 4

Having spent 17 years in newspaper journalism in a variety of large, medium and small newspapers in various cities, I can honestly tell you, I have never, ever been directed to do a story, edit a story or write a story because of any editor's, publisher's or owner's political views.

I cannot speak for TV because I've never been part of it. Clearly there is a bias on Fox news, but I'd hardly call it liberal.

This bullshit about a media conspiracy is exactly that. News agencies are competitive, not collaborative. We're certainly not getting together at some shadowy meeting to plan how to promote the liberal agenda.

What I do find, however, is that when people say "liberal agenda" what they really mean is "Oh, your paper asked a question or ran a story with people who question conservatives. You're clearly a bunch of communists."

Here's how real journalism works. Let's imagine a news event. Say, for instance, there's a been a car accident involving your town's mayor.
The reporter goes to the scene. He/she sees the extent of the damage to the cars and talks to the police at the scene to try and get the basic information, such as who hit who, was anyone injured, was anyone driving recklessly, were they wearing seatbelts...
Then, the reporter starts asking witnesses what they saw. If the people directly involved are able to talk, the reporter will try and talk to them, too. The mayor will tell his side of the story. The other driver will tell his side of the story. The witness who only saw the cars coming at each other but then covered her eyes so she didn't have to see the impact will also tell her side of the story. The people who only heard the impact will tell their side of the story. And so on.

Remember, all these people are human. They have their own ideas, questions and biases.

The reporter goes back to the newsroom and writes the story based on what he/she observed and learned from all his/her various sources. He/she tries to find "the best obtainable version of the truth."

If your mayor is a Republican, and someone says he's at fault in the accident, conservatives will say "Oh, your paper is a liberal rag." Whereas if your mayor is a Democrat, conservatives will say "Oh, of course he was at fault. He's a liberal. He's genetically challenged Satan spawn."

Are there papers that lean one way or the other on their editorial pages? Yep. Editorials are OPINION. They are SUPPOSED to reflect an OPINION, which is biased, depending on the writer.

Are editorials the same as news stories? NO. Stop confusing the two. Learn how your newspaper works. If you want to be part of a free society, you need to understand how its parts work. A free press is as essential to a free society as the right to vote.

But seeing how few of you actually get off your lazy asses and vote, it really doesn't surprise me that so few people understand how the newspaper works, either.

Answer 5

Media and journalism are about investigating occurances. This provides a more open attitude toward others. There are exceptions: anything in the mold of Fox News Channel and the Christian Broadcasting Network. Those two sources demonstrate a definite lack of interests outside their philosophical framework.

It's a more open mind that will seek solutions instead of being satisfied with the way things are, regardless of impact on fellow citizens and human beings. Liberal media serve the whole community infinitely better than conservative media do!

Answer 6

Well, I'm a Democrat (but lately both parties suck and you guys all know that so I wish there was a third party which I could be involved in),
But I really don't care about the liberal aspect of the media; what I care about is the validity of the stories. Stations like FOX and MSNBC, which (MSNBC is very liberal), they are very liberal and conservative, FOX and MSNBC both go to each extreme (the far left and the far right). In the mean time, meaningful news is lost. I really don't think the working man gives a crap about liberal, conservative or the like. They care about wages, bills, gas prices, family, and relationships. Only the people who are hooked up in politics and have no life care about left and right, liberal and conservative, red and blue. The question is, where do you, questioner, stand?

Answer 7

The media is governed under the principles of free market like every other non-government oreganization. The GOP advertises itself as a supporter of the free market. Having said that, your perception of a liberal bias would indicate that that you have distanced yourself from the mean and view the very structure created from the free market as liberal. This suggests that you have a conservative view point which is in the minority.

Answer 8

If by liberal you mean open-minded, willing to see another's point of view, willing to discuss possibilities in accepting change, and let go of being judgmental, then I don't categorize journalism as liberal or conservative. Most of the discussions held are with more than one point of view. It's important to read, learn, educate yourself to many voices of thought so that you can discern what you personally feel is your path of thinking, but most reports by the time they hit the fan and are disbursed unfortunately are tainted by misinformation, and distortion by the reporter. You know how a story can go from one to another, and be changed so easily, and misinterpreted. No reason to get jerked out of your realm of comfort over it. Get a grip and know that what you hear or read may have 1/4 of truth to it, and keep on discovering. It''s a wonderful life!!

Answer 9

Because liberal means open-minded and a journalist has to be open minded. Liberal news media is much less biased than conservative news media, because liberal media will report all sides of a story while conservative media always interjects their opinion.

Answer 10

Journalists have to be open-minded and curious to be successful. And those qualities are more associated with the liberal end of the political spectrum.

Because really now -- conservatives don't care about the way things are or could be -- they just want to take everyone back to the way (they think) things were.

Answer 11

Your question assumes there is a liberal bias. That's just what people who watch Faux News say.