Liberal Media Bias a Myth?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Liberal Media Bias a Myth?
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Tue, 09-28-2004 - 10:27am

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Avatar for baileyhouse
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 10:53am
I think the media being called liberal and anti Bush is just like any one who speaks out against this current "President" being called unpatriotic, communist, and a score of other names by blind Bush suporters who refuse to see the truth. I have been forcing myself to watch Fox News Sunday and they literally twist Kerry's words and try and put a positive spin on every stupid word that come out of Bush's mouth. I have not seen this kind of ridiculous bias reporting on any other station I watch, which by the way is usually NBC/ABC as I don't get cable news stations...
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-04-2003
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 11:25am
I can't believe this is even up for debate. If you haven't noticed the media bias over the years, then you aren't paying attention.

Look at the wording of the headlines in your paper. I dare you to find a single positive headline about President Bush.

Notice how they bury anything positive about President Bush in an article, and surround it with negative bashing about him.

Notice how any news story that is positive for President Bush is ingored and not even reported, or it's reported as briefly as possible and then dropped, to be followed up immediately by a negative story about President Bush.

Notice how the media keeps referring to him as "Mr. Bush" or simply "Bush" instead of "President Bush".

Notice what the media is reporting regarding the war--nothing but bad news. It's all doom and gloom. Talk to soldiers who have been there and they'll tell you very different stories, and tell you how upset and disgusted they are with how the media is reporting on the war. The media is helping the enemy, not our troops, and it does make me furious. They say we need to get out of Iraq, things are getting worse, it's not worth it, and they are obsessed with the number of soldiers killed... it's absurd! The terrorists must be downright giddy over what is said by our media elite. Freedom isn't cheap, you have to fight for it, you have to hang in there through the bad times with your eyes fixed on the goal, and it IS worth it. Good grief, can you imagine what they would have said about WWII? If today's media has been reporting back then, Hitler would have taken over the world for sure!

And certainly you've noticed how pessimistic the media is about our economy, even though unemployment is only around 5%, even down to 3.7% in some counties, and small businesses are growing and hiring. We are doing better now than we were during the Clinton years, but you'll never hear that from the liberal media. They also like to go on and on about jobs moving overseas, which certainly isn't something new that began when President Bush took office. I don't know if any President can do much to curtail that anyway, and there are a lot of arguments that it's actually good for Americans in the long run.

When I watch NBC/ABC/CBS/CNN or read the newspapers I am so disappointed and disgusted. I feel like I'm watching aliens from another planet who are trying to brainwash Americans and destroy America. People are not getting news. It is being censored. They are getting what the liberals want you to hear and that's all. It's no secret that the vast majority of journalists (about 93%) are liberals.

Why are conservative talk radio shows and FOX news so successful? Because they are the only ones speaking our language and telling us the news. When I listen to them I get much more actual news that I ever get from other TV channels or newspapers. Did you hear about NATO deciding to send more help to Iraq? Did you hear all of what the Prime Minister of Iraq had to say to America last week when he spoke at the U.N. and before Congress? If you are just listening to the mainstream liberal media, you are missing a lot.

Next time you listen to a news story or read a newspaper, pay attention to the wording and layout, and to how much space/time is spent on anything positive for President Bush.




Edited 9/28/2004 11:44 am ET ET by shesmymom

Avatar for baileyhouse
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 12:47pm
Maybe you hear nothing positive about Bush because why paint a rosy picture when there is none????

These are headlines from websites today....

Bush: Iran 'won't have a nuclear weapon'/CNN

Good news for Bush in two new polls

President has solid leads over challenger Kerry/MSNBC

Bush Lead Drops in poll/USA Today...So what I see is balanced coverage..not biased.

>>>Notice how the media keeps referring to him as "Mr. Bush" or simply "Bush" instead of "President Bush".<<< Noticed this with Clinton also... It is not disrespectful, it's common...

As far as all of the examples you listed regarding print media, I don't see that in MY newspaper. I don't read USA Today very often but it does seem left leaning, but Wall Street Journal is right leaning ...so again balanced, not biased...

You want rosy spin then keep watching FOX.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 3:23pm
I've read several books on this and I tend to believe Bernie Goldberg's Book "Bias".

The basic premise is that yes there is a bias but it is basically unintentional. As a whole I don’t believe there is a consensus to get the Republicans and help the Democrats. However, most news people, as a result of polls taken, in the major media and news organizations profess to be democrats or liberals. If you are inclined to that belief system your reporting is going to naturally be slanted that way. It is human nature. There aren’t any/many conservatives sitting in the editor rooms saying “wait a minute that isn’t fair”. Therefore everyone sees a report from the same perspective and they aren’t necessarily sensitive to viewing it from the conservative viewpoint.

It is unfortunate because the bias is there and the reporting is unbalanced. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR are all left of center. I don’t think they are in collusion together to get Bush, its just they are what they are. As a whole I do believe Fox news does a better job of balancing the reports, but I freely admit they definitely are coming from right of center and are therefore more appealing to me.

The NY Times is definitely liberal. The assertion that because the Times supported the war on Iraq means they aren’t liberal just doesn’t fly. The government and press were in unison trying to tout how the war was necessary. With the exception of those on the extreme left and the extreme right, most people thought it was the right thing to do. Therefore the Times were just part of the masses on that one.

I for one never supported action in Iraq and I’m as conservative as it gets.

The Bias does exist, to deny it is to deny human nature. To say it is a deliberate act to help one political party is a bit of a stretch…


My .02 anyhow.

Jim


Edited 9/28/2004 4:00 pm ET ET by vader716

Avatar for momeebear
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 3:44pm
<>

Thanks for your thoughtful post, Jim, it's a viewpoint I hadn't heard before. I honestly don't know what to believe, I posted the article to see what response it would get, see what others think. I too believe that most journalists are probably more liberal, but wondered if they answered to owners and editors, who are owned by big corporations? I read and watch all news with a grain of salt....I know that it is all filtered thru one bias or another. I will have to read Mr. Goldberg's book......

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 3:49pm
Its a quick and easy read. Coloring the news by William McGowan is also a good read but much more scholarly so to speak. Goldberg's book was much more of a first hand account and more "fun" to read.
Avatar for momeebear
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 3:52pm
Ooops, my apologies Jim, for butting in on Liberalmama's post......didn't mean to take credit for posting the article, just meant that I had READ it! I did see Bernard Goldberg on Book TV on C-SPAN, but wasn't familiar with his work.....thanks for the info.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 4:53pm
<>

What you see often depends upon the lens through which you see it, i.e., your own bias. I would assume you don't notice the bias on Fox because it is consistent with your own bias; however you really pick up on bias that differs from yours.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2003
Wed, 09-29-2004 - 7:47am
Thank you shesmymom, finally someone who gets it! I appreciate your posting and I completely agree with you, kudos!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 09-29-2004 - 11:31am

The Bias does exist, to deny it is to deny human nature. To say it is a deliberate act to help one political party is a bit of a stretch…


We agree on something!


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