"Liberal bias" is a common phrase used in American political discourse to express the view that the American media generally has a liberal bias. The expression is frequently used by critics of the network news stations of CBS, ABC, and NBC, as well as major newspapers and newswires, especially the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post, as well as the Associated Press and others. Others seriously dispute this, with some claiming that there is, instead, a conservative bias. Still others say that what is often labeled as "liberal bias" is more accurately termed sensationalism, not necessarily anything biased in favor of liberalism. The Federal Government of the United States was established by the United States Constitution. ... The media of the United States consists of several different types of communications media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites. ... // Usage of the word Liberal In the United States, the common meaning of liberal has evolved over time. ... CBSs first color logo, which debuted in the fall of 1965. ... The ABC Circle logo, designed by Paul Rand in 1962. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American radio and television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... A news agency is an organization journalists established to supply news reports to organizations in the news trade: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... The Los Angeles Times (also LA Times) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the western United States. ... ... Associated Press logo This article concerns the news service. ... Conservative bias is the mirror image of liberal bias, a belief that the media is biased in favor of conservative views. ... Sensationalism is a manner of being extremely controversial, loud, attention-grabbing, or otherwise sensationalistic. ... Liberalism is a political current embracing several historical and present-day ideologies that claim defense of individual liberty as the purpose of government. ...

Claims of "liberal biases" prevail mainly in the United States; however, some prominent figures on the right-wing in Britain have also claimed that the British media is left-wing, especially the publicly funded BBC. Conservative critics in Canada have similarly attacked the state-funded CBC, as Australian conservatives have done to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Public broadcasting (also known as public service broadcasting or PSB) is the dominant form of broadcasting around the world, where radio, television, and potentially other electronic media outlets receive funding from the public. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter. ... CBC redirects here, as this is the most common use of the abbreviation. ... The ABC or Australian Broadcasting Corporation is the national, public broadcaster in Australia. ...

History

Bernard Goldberg's Bias

Bob Kohn's Journalistic Fraud

Ann Coulter's Slander

One of the earliest claims that liberal bias dominates the media dates back to November 1969, when Spiro Agnew, then Vice President under Richard Nixon made a landmark speech denouncing media influence on politics.¹ From the 1990s onwards, some American conservatives have increasingly voiced their perception that liberals dominate the American mass media and present a liberal point of view. This image is a book cover. ... This image is a book cover. ... This image is a book cover. ... This image is a book cover. ... This image is a book cover. ... This image is a book cover. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Spiro Theodore Agnew, born Spiro Anagnostopoulos (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996), was the thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1973 under President Richard M. Nixon. ... The Vice President of the United States is the second-highest executive official of the United States government, the person who is a heartbeat from the presidency. As first in the presidential line of succession, the Vice President becomes the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation... Order: 37th President Vice President: Spiro Agnew (1969–1973), Gerald R. Ford (1973–1974) Term of office: January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 Preceded by: Lyndon B. Johnson Succeeded by: Gerald R. Ford Date of birth: January 9, 1913 Place of birth: Yorba Linda, California Date of death: April 22... Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

Several authors have written books on liberal bias in the media. Some examples include:

• Bernard Goldberg wrote Bias in 2001, in which he claimed CBS, his former employer, had a liberal bias.
• Bob Kohn wrote Journalistic Fraud, a criticism of the New York Times.
• Ann Coulter wrote Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right in 2002, in which she claimed the American television and print news had a widespread liberal bias.

Bernard Goldberg was a reporter with CBS for nearly thirty years. ... Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News is a book by Bernard Goldberg, a former CBS employee, detailing what he calls systematic liberal bias in TV news reporting. ... Journalistic Fraud: How The New York Times Distorts the News and Why It Can No Longer Be Trusted is a book by Bob Kohn with a thesis similar to that of Bernard Goldbergs Bias. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Ann Coulter on the cover of TIME in April 2005. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Allegations

People who use the phrase "liberal bias" believe that liberal biases are evident in both the choice (what stories are favored, or "played," over others) and coverage (how stories are researched, portrayed, and presented). According to their perceptions, there is a "slant" or "spin" in the news that tends to promote a left-wing agenda. In public relations, spin is a usually pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in ones own favor of an event or situation that is designed to bring about the most positive result possible. ... NeWS, for Network extensible Window System, was a windowing system developed by Sun Microsystems in the late 1980s. ...

The specific criticisms of proponents of the theory tend to be two-fold. First, the objectivity of anchors and newswriters is called into question, and second, the priorities and focus of the media network stations and corporations in general is disputed.

Conservative critics often accuse prominent anchors such as Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, and Peter Jennings as being rather "open" liberals instead of political neutrals, and point to various speeches and comments they've made that illustrate their views. Other anchors may be criticised for their past, non-media careers, in which they may have been supporters, campaigners, or fundraisers of left-wing political candidates. Surveys have been done which indicate that by a rather large margin journalists in the United States tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic in federal elections. Conservatives argue that when news anchors and producers have private, politically-active backgrounds, it inevitably skews their outlook when delivering the news or holding interviews. They also accuse a majority of the channels (most often CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN) of having an extreme liberal bias. Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw [1] (born February 6, 1940) is a television journalist and the former NBC News anchorman and managing editor of the program NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. ... Dan Rather, from a telecast in October 2004. ... Peter Jennings, anchoring a newscast in October 2004. ...

Such allegations of pre-existing political biases lead into the other main criticism, which is that mainstream news covers events in a way that supports the liberal perspective while minimizing the conservative counterarguments. Conservatives claim that issues such as abortion or the PATRIOT Act are examples of issues in which conservative counter-arguments to liberal opposition are rarely given much time or positive consideration on the news. This article needs cleanup. ...

Another main allegation is that the media routinely portrays Republicans in an unflattering light, pointing to media coverage of Ronald Reagan, Dan Quayle, and George W. Bush as examples. Republicans, they argue, are routinely portrayed as stupid, incompetent, fanatical, or worse due to the media's focus on an alleged number of tactics, such as selective quoting, "gotcha" tactics, or excessively emotionally-driven coverage. The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... Order: 40th President Vice President: George H.W. Bush Term of office: 20 January 1981 – 20 January 1989 Preceded by: Jimmy Carter Succeeded by: George H.W. Bush Date of birth: 6 February 1911 Place of birth: Tampico, Illinois Date of death: 5 June 2004 Place of death: Bel-Air... James Danforth Quayle III (born February 4, 1947) was the 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush (1989-1993). ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is a politician and currently the 43rd President of the United States. ...

The breaking of the Lewinsky scandal by Matt Drudge, instead of Newsweek, who originally had the story and held onto it, is often cited as an example of liberal media bias. While working as an intern at the White House, Monica Lewinsky had a short-term sexual relationship with President Bill Clinton. ... Matt Drudge Matt Drudge (born October 27, 1966) is an American Internet news personality who is frequently called a cybergossip. He is best known as the proprietor of the popular U.S.-based Drudge Report website, which made national waves when it was the first to break the news of... Newsweek Logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and Canada. ...

Another allegation of liberal bias is a tendency to inflame stories which suggest that guns in the hands of private citizens are responsible for crimes (and ignore when a gun in the hand of a private citizen apprehended the same criminals[1]), This article is about firearms and similar devices. ...

More recently a news story by CBS, presented in 2004, claimed the existence of documents supposedly written by George W. Bush's commanding officer during a period of military service that reflected poorly on him. The documents used in constructing the story were later revealed to be total fabrications by independent analysis, which CBS later confirmed. Those who believe in a Liberal bias see this as an example of the media purposely misleading the public, while those who dismiss such a premise either ignore the story or insist that it was an unfortunate but honest mistake.

A very common criticism of the media is that it has covered the "bad news" in Afghanistan and Iraq (Where American lead coalition forces are currently engaged in controversial military action) while ignoring the "good news." Critics point to a perceived obsession with the coalition and civilian body counts, threats of a draft, and allegations of war crimes, abuse and mismanagement. Progress, such as economic development, political reform, and increasing numbers of local police and defense forces is rarely covered. Soldiers have often been quoted as saying the Iraq where they serve is not the Iraq shown on TV, and that Afghanistan isn't shown at all. Some outspoken critics of the media have gone so far as to claim that this is a sign of an Anti-American bias, and a deliberate attempt to diminish public support, with the ultimate goal of forcing a total withdrawal of American forces. The word draft (also draught) has multiple meanings: The draft is a synonym for conscription or peacetime national service. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Abuse is a general term for the misuse of a person or thing, causing harm to the person or thing, to the abuser, or to someone else. ... Economic development is the development of economic wealth of countries or regions for the well-being of their inhabitants. ... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... Anti-American sentiment is a hostility towards or disapproval of the government, culture, history, and/or people of the United States of America. ...

Some individuals attribute such stories to intellectual laziness, rather than a coherent bias.

Opposing views

Mainstream media organizations accused of slanted reporting often go to great lengths to defend their objectivity. In addition, some individuals maintain that there exists in the media the precise opposite -- a conservative bias. Conservative bias is the mirror image of liberal bias, a belief that the media is biased in favor of conservative views. ...

Critics of the concept of liberal bias argue that it is largely an invention of the conservative right. Many of these critics also say that most media outlets are owned by wealthy individuals, many if not most of whom are on the right (for example, Rupert Murdoch, the owner of FOX News; FOX is often a target of those who charge conservative bias). Moreover, they say, both the print and broadcast media survive from advertising revenues, which makes the media rely to an extent on corporations; they thus claim that these media are less likely to present information that could harm potential advertisers. Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch (born March 11, 1931), Australian-born American media proprietor, is the major shareholder and managing director of News Corporation, one of the worlds largest and most influential media corporations. ... The FOX News Channel is a US cable and satellite news channel. ... Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. ... A corporation is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name AS (anonymous society) or something similar, depending on language (see below). ...

However, those who claim there exists widespread liberal bias argue that a number of these wealthy business owners are liberals, so great wealth does not necessarily entail conservatism. They point to Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, as well as other left-leaning figures who are multimillionaires such as George Soros, John Kerry, Jesse Jackson, Ted Kennedy, John Edwards and many Hollywood stars. In politics, the term liberal refers to: an adherent of the ideology of liberalism or a state or quality of this ideology. ... Robert Edward Ted Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American media mogul and philanthropist. ... CNN or Cable News Network is a cable television network that was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner & Reese Schonfeld [1] [2] (although he currently is not recognized in CNNs official history). ... George Soros George Soros (born August 12, 1930 in Budapest, Hungary as Soros György) is a Hungarian-born American businessman. ... Office: Junior Senator, Massachusetts Political party: Democratic Term of office: January 1985 – Present Preceded by: Paul Tsongas Succeeded by: Incumbent (2009) Date of birth: December 11, 1943 Place of birth: Aurora, Colorado Marriage: (1) Julia Thorne, divorced (2) Teresa Heinz Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the... Jesse Jackson The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. ... Office: Senior Senator, Massachusetts Political party: Democrat Term of office: January 1963 – Present Preceded by: Benjamin A. Smith II Succeeded by: Incumbent (2007) Date of birth: February 22, 1932 Place of birth: Boston, Massachusetts Marriage: (1) Virginia Joan Bennett, divorced (2) Victoria Reggie Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy, (born February 22... Office: U.S. Senator, North Carolina Political party: Democratic Term of office: January 1999 – January 2005 Preceded by: Lauch Faircloth Succeeded by: Richard Burr Date of birth: June 10, 1953 Place of birth: Seneca, South Carolina Marriage: Elizabeth Edwards Johnny Reid John Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is a former... ...

Critics also point to the worldwide perception that US media is more right-wing than in most other democracies, and less likely to challenge an official position than most other countries' media.

Certain neoconservatives, such as Irving Kristol, have said that the charge of "liberal bias" has been exaggerated for rhetorical purposes. Neoconservatism is a somewhat controversial term referring to the political goals and ideology of the new conservatives (ultraconservative) in the United States. ... Irving Kristol (1920-) is considered the founding godfather of American neoconservatism, a prominent Jew, and the father of William Kristol. ...

Eric Alterman, author of What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News is one of those who argues against any significant liberal bias. Reviewer John Moe sums up Alterman's views: Eric Alterman is a liberal American commentator, author and activist, and is currently a political columnist for The Nation. ...

"The conservatives in the newspapers, television, talk radio, and the Republican party are lying about liberal bias and repeating the same lies long enough that they've taken on a patina of truth. Further, the perception of such a bias has cowed many media outlets into presenting more conservative opinions to counterbalance a bias, which does not, in fact, exist." [2]

The article 'spiking' contains an account by film critic Roger Ebert in which a reporter from NBC approached a story with preconceived conservative bias. Note: spiking a drink means adding alcohol or another drug to it, with or without the drinkers consent, to create intoxication. ... Roger Ebert (born June 18, 1942) is a Chicago Sun-Times film critic and the first author to win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism (1975 award for his film criticism during 1974). Through his newspaper reviews, books, television shows, lectures, and public persona, he has contributed perhaps more than anyone... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American radio and television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...

It can often be seen that foreign news agencies break stories before the domestic press when the contents might be unfavorable to an American right-wing point of view. For example, when the BBC ran revelations that the state of Florida had been over-aggressive about removing alleged criminals from the voter register, no US news agency ran the story. In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter. ... State nickname: Sunshine State, Everglade State Other U.S. States Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Governor Jeb Bush Official languages English Area 170,451 km² (22nd)  - Land 137,374 km²  - Water 30,486 km² (17. ...

The Propaganda model by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky deems possible bias of the journalists themselves to be an insignificant matter, but claims that structural and economic causes filter the type of news published. It has been argued that any political slant is overwhelmed by the media organization's drive to report the stories that will sell newspapers and draw viewers, and to report them in the most eye-catching way they can. This is often called sensationalist bias. The propaganda model is a theory advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky that seeks to explain the supposed systemic biases of the mass media in terms of structural economic causes. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages. ... Sensationalism is a manner of being extremely controversial, loud, attention-grabbing, or otherwise sensationalistic. ...

The acronym SCLM is sometimes used to refer to the "so-called liberal media" to reflect this disconnect between how the media is perceived.

Notes

1. Extracts from Agnew's talk here
2. Lichter, S.R., Lichter, L.S. and Rothman, S., 1992. Watching America: What Television Tells Us About Our Lives.

See also

• Media bias
• Hostile media effect
• Group attribution error

Media bias is a real or perceived tendency of journalists and news producers within the mass media to approach both the presentation of particular stories, and the selection of which stories to cover, with an unbalanced perspective. ... The hostile media effect, sometimes called the hostile media phenomenon, refers to the finding that ideological partisans consistently tend to think that media coverage is biased against their particular side of the issue. ... The group attribution error is a group-serving, attributional bias identical to the fundamental attribution error except that it occurs between members of different groups rather than different individuals. ...

External links

• COA News (A Portal To Independent News)
• Media Research Center (conservative site which claims to expose liberal bias)
• Fairpress.org - Citizens Coalition for Responsible Media (conservative site which claims to expose liberal bias)
• Pew Research Center For the People and the Press (non-partisan organization which studies attitudes towards the press)
• Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (liberal site which claims to expose conservative bias)
• Media Matters for America (liberal site which claims to expose conservative bias)