The Media is Liberal

Pickle · 07-01-2006, 09:40 PM

This should be interesting.

Kerostasis · 07-01-2006, 10:39 PM

There are some weird breaks in the text, where one sentence seems to suddenly disappear and be replaced by another. I'm not sure whats going on there.

But I very much enjoyed this quote:

Quote:

More recently, the New York Times reported that only 8% of Washington [journalists] thought George W. Bush would be a better president than John Kerry. This compares to 51% of all American voters. David Brooks notes that for every journalist who contributed to George W. Bush’s campaign, 93 contributed to Kerry’s.

These statistics suggest that journalists, as a group, are more liberal than almost any congressional district in the country! For instance, in the Ninth California district, which includes Berkeley, twelve percent voted for Bush in 1992, nearly double the rate of journalists. In the Eighth Massachusetts district, which includes Cambridge, nineteen percent voted for Bush, approximately triple the rate of journalists.

(emphasis added)

**CingularDuality** · 07-02-2006, 01:01 AM

The question isn't whether journalists are liberal. That's an unarguable fact that can be proven simply by picking up a newspaper or turning on a TV.

The question is why journalists tend to be liberal. Is it a career that simply attracts people that are already liberal? Does the industry reward people that bring liberal ideas to work? Do the industry leaders push conservatives out of the industry? Are J schools able to indoctrinate that efficiently?

Once we understand why most journalists are liberal, we can begin to explore ways to solve that problem...

**RGM-79N_GM_CUstom** · 07-02-2006, 01:40 AM

Am I the only one that feels the media is everything but liberal?

icky · 07-02-2006, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RGM-79N_GM_CUstom

Am I the only one that feels the media is everything but liberal?

Yes.

Kerostasis · 07-02-2006, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RGM-79N_GM_CUstom

Am I the only one that feels the media is everything but liberal?

Yes.

Switchcraft · 07-02-2006, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RGM-79N_GM_CUstom

Am I the only one that feels the media is everything but liberal?

No. Not that I agree with you, I think you're completely and totally wrong. But there are tons of others that feel the same way. So, uh, since you're here...why do you feel this way? Can you cite examples?

Pickle · 07-02-2006, 03:22 AM

He probably feels that way because the media tracks with his own beliefs. Therefore he feels comfortable. Just a guess though.

Kerostasis · 07-02-2006, 03:24 AM

As long as Switchcraft is breaking the chain, let me say that it does depend to a certain extent on WHICH media outlets you are examining. Talk radio, for example, is mostly slanted conservative. And there is a very simple reason for that---liberal radio programs tend to get poor ratings and go out of business.

On the other hand, most newspapers and TV news outlets are slanted liberal. And those are the ones looked at in this study.

Drizzid · 07-02-2006, 03:50 AM

Quote:

The question is why journalists tend to be liberal. Is it a career that simply attracts people that are already liberal? Does the industry reward people that bring liberal ideas to work? Do the industry leaders push conservatives out of the industry?

They wouldn't have anything to write or talk about if they were on the conservative side of things. Liberal ideals are controversial which gives the media what they want and that is something to talk about. GWB is giving them job security

Beatnik · 07-02-2006, 04:45 AM

Healthy grounds for discussion here.

Obviously anything other than Fox News towing the party line, as ridiculous as it may be at any given moment, qualifies as liberal, if the threads of the recent past are any indicator.

I'll ask then: What sources exactly do you qualify as being 'non-liberal'?

EDIT: From the obviously flawed methodology:

Quote:

Originally Posted by article

In this paper we estimate ADA (Americans for Democratic Action) scores for major media outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today, Fox News’ Special Report, and all three network television news shows. Our estimates allow us to answer such questions as “Is the average article in the New York Times more liberal than the average speech by Tom Daschle?” or “Is the average story on Fox News more conservative than the average speech by Bill Frist?” To compute our measure, we count the times that a media outlet cites various think tanks and other policy groups. We compare this with the times that members of Congress cite the same think tanks in their speeches on the floor of the House and Senate. By comparing the citation patterns we construct an ADA score. As a simplified example, imagine that there were only two think tanks, one liberal and one conservative. Suppose that the New York Times cited the liberal think tank twice as often as the conservative one. Our method asks: What is the typical ADA score of members of Congress who exhibit the same frequency (2:1) in their speeches? This is the score that we would assign to the New York Times. Our results show a strong liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News’ Special Report and the Washington Times received a score to the left of the average member of Congress. Consistent with many conservative critics, CBS Evening News and the New York Times received a score far left of center. Outlets such as the Washington Post, USA Today, NPR’s Morning Edition, NBC’s Nightly News and ABC’s World News Tonight were moderately left. The most centrist outlets (but still left-leaning) by our measure were the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, CNN’s NewsNight with Aaron Brown, and ABC’s Good Morning America. Fox News’ Special Report, while right of center, was closer to the center than any of the three major networks’ evening news broadcasts. All of our findings refer strictly to the news stories of the outlets. That is, we omitted editorials, book reviews, and letters to the editor from our sample.

So simply counting the citations of a particular source, regardless of the topic at hand, is somehow indicative of 'bias'?? Conservative sources citing a conservative senator is substantial?? How exactly is that? How exactly is this 'ADA Score' valid?? Is citing one source or another making you more liberal or conservative? How so? This methodology is flawed in so many obvious, retarded ways it makes my brain hurt.

So much for critical thinking. This is really beyond the standard of common sense. Let's use our big brains to think for once. Sheesh.

**leejo** · 07-02-2006, 11:48 AM

The study's obviously flawed methodology somehow slipped past the Quarterly Journal of Economics's review: it was in their 11/05 issue.

Instead of attempting to undermine the authors or this journal, you may wish to try finding an equally reputable study by equally reputable authors that reaches a different conclusion and support that. At the very least look up the authors' resumes and take a peek at the journal's info on the web. You might decide to take a different approach.

Mateo · 07-02-2006, 01:32 PM

My undergrad was journalism....from the start, you are honed to question authority at every opportunity. It's not just a methodolgy: it's an indoctrination into holding a liberal ideal, a free press, or free speech, above everything else. In this sense, journalists are liberal, simply because their whole power rests on the first ammendment.

Other than that, I cannot say that journalists are or are not at one political spectrum or another. I do not see "journalists" like Bill O'Reilly as journalists per se, but rather more as pundits. Since pundits need neither balance or facts to get their points across, I would not think that that would be a good basis for saying that journalists are biased one way or another.

**CingularDuality** · 07-02-2006, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mateo

I do not see "journalists" like Bill O'Reilly as journalists per se, but rather more as pundits. Since pundits need neither balance or facts to get their points across, I would not think that that would be a good basis for saying that journalists are biased one way or another.

Right. I don't think we're talking about analysts/pundits/opinion pages/etc... Just look at what is actually reported as "hard" news.

Kerostasis · 07-02-2006, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beatnik

EDIT: From the obviously flawed methodology:

So simply counting the citations of a particular source, regardless of the topic at hand, is somehow indicative of 'bias'?? Conservative sources citing a conservative senator is substantial?? How exactly is that? How exactly is this 'ADA Score' valid?? Is citing one source or another making you more liberal or conservative? How so? This methodology is flawed in so many obvious, retarded ways it makes my brain hurt.

And why shouldn't it be valid? If you'll actually read the opening paragraphs of the study, they explain that the beauty of the system is that they don't have to make any judgements at all on which cited sources are more conservative/liberal/trustworthy/untrustworthy/biased/fair/etc. All they do is compare that to OTHER people who cite the SAME sources, and assume a similar thought pattern. Seems like a reasonable starting place to me, and nothing close to "flawed in obvious, retarded ways".

07-01-2006, 09:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
Pickle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Land of Fruit and Nuts! Age: 35 Posts: 1,281	The Media is Liberal The study here. Discuss. This should be interesting. __________________ "Umm Deputy these aren't my pants" - Common alarm cry of the North American Crackhead [tg-c1][ma-c1][defense]

07-02-2006, 01:01 AM	#3 (permalink)
CingularDuality Join Date: May 2003 Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas, USA Age: 33 Posts: 17,137	Re: The Media is Liberal The question isn't whether journalists are liberal. That's an unarguable fact that can be proven simply by picking up a newspaper or turning on a TV. The question is why journalists tend to be liberal. Is it a career that simply attracts people that are already liberal? Does the industry reward people that bring liberal ideas to work? Do the industry leaders push conservatives out of the industry? Are J schools able to indoctrinate that efficiently? Once we understand why most journalists are liberal, we can begin to explore ways to solve that problem... __________________ Become a supporting member! Buy a Tactical Duck! Take the world's smallest political quiz! "I was touched by His Noodly Appendage." TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

07-02-2006, 01:40 AM	#4 (permalink)
RGM-79N_GM_CUstom Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Paterson, New Jersey Age: 22 Posts: 2,165	Re: The Media is Liberal Am I the only one that feels the media is everything but liberal? __________________ RX-78-2 Gundam EFSF Protoype Close Combat Mobile Suit Armor: Luna Titanium Armament: 2x Beam Sabers, 2x 60mm Head vulcan guns 380mm Hyper bazooka, Beam Rifle, Beam Javelin, Hyper Hammer, Gundam Hammer, shield TG Natural Selection admin. Need anything PM me. 7th Infantry FTW!!!!! "Snob? Nah...I consider myself more of a PC Evangelist...converting the heathens to The Way." Prophaniti "Windows is like Pokemon you gotta catch'em all." kenshinsama1

07-02-2006, 03:22 AM	#8 (permalink)
Pickle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Land of Fruit and Nuts! Age: 35 Posts: 1,281	Re: The Media is Liberal He probably feels that way because the media tracks with his own beliefs. Therefore he feels comfortable. Just a guess though. __________________ "Umm Deputy these aren't my pants" - Common alarm cry of the North American Crackhead [tg-c1][ma-c1][defense]

07-02-2006, 11:48 AM	#12 (permalink)
leejo Join Date: Sep 2003 Age: 39 Posts: 7,839	Re: The Media is Liberal The study's obviously flawed methodology somehow slipped past the Quarterly Journal of Economics's review: it was in their 11/05 issue. Instead of attempting to undermine the authors or this journal, you may wish to try finding an equally reputable study by equally reputable authors that reaches a different conclusion and support that. At the very least look up the authors' resumes and take a peek at the journal's info on the web. You might decide to take a different approach. Last edited by leejo; 07-02-2006 at 12:17 PM.

07-02-2006, 01:32 PM	#13 (permalink)
Mateo Join Date: Aug 2004 Age: 37 Posts: 6,483	Re: The Media is Liberal My undergrad was journalism....from the start, you are honed to question authority at every opportunity. It's not just a methodolgy: it's an indoctrination into holding a liberal ideal, a free press, or free speech, above everything else. In this sense, journalists are liberal, simply because their whole power rests on the first ammendment. Other than that, I cannot say that journalists are or are not at one political spectrum or another. I do not see "journalists" like Bill O'Reilly as journalists per se, but rather more as pundits. Since pundits need neither balance or facts to get their points across, I would not think that that would be a good basis for saying that journalists are biased one way or another.

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