There’s a thread over on MonroeTalks.com titled, “News media IS biased.”
I’ve been engaged in this discussion, to one degree or another, for most of my 30-plus years as a journalist.
I’ve seen much of the research - some of which confirms the left-leaning of the mainsteam national media and some of which refutes those claims.
I’m not surprised by research that shows Democratic candidates getting more coverage and more positive coverage this year. There are reasons to explain the difference - for example, the first time in U.S. history that a woman and a black man are leading contenders for president. It kind of makes sense that they would get more coverage. But I doubt that kind of explanation would impress most conservatives.
I’m convinced that there’s something to the claims of media bias, especially at the national level. Most journalists strive to be fair and balanced - it’s what they were trained to do and it’s one of the principles that attracted them to the business. But they can’t change the fact that most of them come from the same educated, middle class backgrounds. They go to the same colleges, where the faculty tend to be liberal, and they attend the same workshops and frequent the same coffee shops. They’re human, and they’re products of their environment. That will be reflected in the decisions they make.
Conservatives who believe there is an organized, liberal conspiracy to give Democrats an advantage in national politics, however, are simply wrong. Journalists aren’t wired that way. They would reject such a conspiracy en masse.
Besides, as someone on the MonroeTalks.com thread pointed out, the liberal tendency of national journalists is balanced by the conservative ownership. Most national media outlets, whether television, radio or newspaper, are owned by giant corporations which, for obvious reasons, tend to support conservative candidates.
At the local level, any bias caused by the background of journalists is largely negated by the local nature of the work force. At The Evening News, most of the journalists come from the local area. They are products of Monroe County schools and Michigan universities. They reflect the community they serve.
I’m one of the few exceptions. I was born and raised in Oregon, 2,000 miles from Monroe County. But Oregon isn’t New England or New York, or even California. I come from a small state with a reputation for being fiercely independent. I’ve found that I fit well in Monroe County, a swing area with a full spectrum of political views.
So what does all this say about bias in the media. I believe strongly that Americans can sort through any bias, to the extent it exists. If you’re conservative, you’re probably sifting through anything you read or see or hear from the media, looking for bias. If you’re liberal, you can check out Fox News to get a different perspective.