Media Bias? 83% believe so per Zogby

[Kilmer17]

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070315-114454-8075r.htm


The vast majority of American voters detect the presence of political bias in the mainstream news media, according to a Zogby poll released yesterday in conjunction with the George Washington University Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.
Sentiment is strong: 83 percent of likely voters think bias is "alive and well." Of that number, 64 percent said the press leans left, while slightly more than a quarter -- 28 percent -- said there was a conservative bias.
Naturally, there's a partisan divide, and a pronounced one. Among Republican respondents, 97 percent said the press was liberal. Two-thirds of political independents agreed with them, with less than a quarter of the independents -- 23 percent -- saying there was a conservative bias.
Democratic respondents revealed a spectrum of perceptions.
"Democrats, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than any other group, were not nearly as sure the media was against them as were the Republicans," the survey said. "While Republicans were unified in their perception of left-wing media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed right -- and 17 percent said the bias favored the left."
Such wavering sentiment may not align with the thinking of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. In a speech Tuesday, the New York Democrat insisted that the "vast, right-wing conspiracy" -- the so-called alliance between conservative point men and journalists that once vexed her husband, former President Bill Clinton -- was fully operational.
Meanwhile, the Zogby findings also revealed a trend that may sober the enthusiasm of broadcasters, magazines and newspapers that have rushed to establish an Internet presence, complete with snappy blogs, message boards and interactive features.
"American voters remain skeptical of major news outlets diving in the blog pool -- 26 percent speculated that the reason news organizations are placing blogs on their Web sites is that 'blogs give news organizations a chance to promote a political agenda they could not promote in regular broadcasts, cablecast or publications,' " the survey stated.
The poll of 1,757 likely voters nationwide was conducted Feb. 20 to 26, and had a margin of error of two percentage points.
Other research confirms public skepticism.
"The State of the News Media 2007," a 700-page analysis released Monday by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, found that 68 percent of respondents preferred getting news from sources without "a particular point of view." Still, less than half gave positive reviews of credibility and trustworthiness in the press itself. The presence of liberal bias was cited by 28 percent, up from 19 percent in 1996.
"Perceptions of bias and the partisan divide of media, appear to be on the rise," the study said, though it also noted the rise of a new "answer culture" over the long dominant "argument culture" in the press, marking "an appeal more idiosyncratic and less ideological."

[Air Force Cane]

lots of libs on here must make up that 17% of the clueless who don't think the media is biased.

even the media admit that they are biased! See Evan Thomas of Newsweek who stated on TV that the media would gain John Kerry 10-15 points in the polls..

[Henry]

Clearly liberals are more objective. :silly:

[DCsportsfan53]

Standard media, ie CNN, WP, NYT, ect, do lean slightly left at times though they try and present facts not opinions.

Washinton Times, Fox news, ect, are completely opinion based party loyalists with no interest in truth or fact. That's the difference. Some lean a little left, while the Rightie rags are unabashed right wing propogandists with no interest in news.

Edit: even shows like the Daily Show are more factually based than bs like faux news. They just don't even try to be neutral, nothing put party moutpieces.

[Who Del]

The news is what you make it. In the end it's your choice on how you feel about whats being reported. Why is that so hard? Who really cares? Are we so stupid that we can't make up our own minds?

[DCsportsfan53]

The news is what you make it. In the end it's your choice on how you feel about whats being reported. Why is that so hard? Who really cares? Are we so stupid that we can't make up our own minds?


hey, speak to the righties about that one. They're the ones with 97% agreement on this. Faux news told them about the bias, it must be true. :silly: ;)

[The Evil Genius]

What's ironic is that John Zogby is a dyed in the wool liberal democrat.

So, based on this, a liberal biased pollster is reporting that there is a liberal bias in the media...and some whackjobs are eating it up.

[codeorama]

Standard media, ie CNN, WP, NYT, ect, do lean slightly left at times though they try and present facts not opinions.

Washinton Times, Fox news, ect, are completely opinion based party loyalists with no interest in truth or fact. That's the difference. Some lean a little left, while the Rightie rags are unabashed right wing propogandists with no interest in news.



Too true...

[Redskins Diehard]

hey, speak to the righties about that one. They're the ones with 97% agreement on this. Faux news told them about the bias, it must be true. :silly: ;)

I wonder if the guy who coined "Faux news" gets a royalty every time it is used...it is soooooooo clever:rolleyes:

[Zguy28]

Standard media, ie CNN, WP, NYT, ect, do lean slightly left at times though they try and present facts not opinions.Slightly? You're kidding right? Especially the NYT? :laugh:

[rincewind]

Just goes to show just how paranoid republicans are. I mean look at this guy:

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/online/ddd/includes/images/475/177.jpg

[stwasm]

You could watch Faux, I mean, Fox News to get the answer to that question!

[Zguy28]

Just goes to show just how paranoid republicans are. I mean look at this guy:

Yellow journalism has always been around and always will, on both sides. It used to be just newspapers, but News stations are the same now.

Political hacks like George Stephanopolous, Meredith Viera on the left, and Brit Hume and Shepherd Smith on the right.

(In Jack Webb voice) "just the facts ma'am, just the facts"

[rincewind]

I wonder if the guy who coined "Faux news" gets a royalty every time it is used...it is soooooooo clever:rolleyes:


You could watch Faux, I mean, Fox News to get the answer to that question!



Ch-ching!

[Redskins Diehard]

Ch-ching!
Stwa gives the added twist of making it appear as though he unintentionally messed up the spelling....not sure if royalties are owed on a "mistake"

[NoCalMike]

Yeah and almost 80% of America thought Iraq had WMDs a few years ago. If you repeat something over and over and over again, people will believe it eventually. That was why Bush was on TV almost every other night talking about Nuclear weapons and yellowcake.

Also, you have to decide for yourself what is a liberal opinion and/or conservative opinion. An example, Being pro-choice. I think being pro-choice is a MAJORITY opinion in this country, (besides late-term abortions, that is an entire different issue). Most republicans, even though they want late-term abortions banned, they don't want Roe V. Wade overturned. So you would have to say that 100% Pro-Life is a minority opinion reserved for those further to the right then moderates. However, if you listen to Sean Hannity or Laura Ingram, they would try and say that it is the left-leaning loony fringe move-on.org people that support abortion.

So really it is all about perspective and what you consider a "left" "right" or "moderate" opinion.

[portisizzle]

Yeah and almost 80% of America thought Iraq had WMDs a few years ago. If you repeat something over and over and over again, people will believe it eventually. That was why Bush was on TV almost every other night talking about Nuclear weapons and yellowcake.

Also, you have to decide for yourself what is a liberal opinion and/or conservative opinion. An example, Being pro-choice. I think being pro-choice is a MAJORITY opinion in this country, (besides late-term abortions, that is an entire different issue). Most republicans, even though they want late-term abortions banned, they don't want Roe V. Wade overturned. So you would have to say that 100% Pro-Life is a minority opinion reserved for those further to the right then moderates. However, if you listen to Sean Hannity or Laura Ingram, they would try and say that it is the left-leaning loony fringe move-on.org people that support abortion.

So really it is all about perspective and what you consider a "left" "right" or "moderate" opinion.

Man it is wonderful peering into the mind of a California liberal..........sometimes.

[ECU-ALUM]

Like my Mass Communications professor once told us, "If you remember nothing else from this class remember this: Objectivity in the media is bullsh**. It doesn't exist at best it is a myth."

[Johnny Punani]

http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6664




"Overall, the major media outlets are quite moderate compared to members of Congress, but even so, there is a quantifiable and significant bias in that nearly all of them lean to the left," said co‑author Jeffrey Milyo,

[chomerics]

http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6664




"Overall, the major media outlets are quite moderate compared to members of Congress, but even so, there is a quantifiable and significant bias in that nearly all of them lean to the left," said co‑author Jeffrey Milyo,

There is a major flaw in that study Johnny, and it has been told here before. They use a time when you had a strong republican majority, and strong republican rhetoric in the house and senate. They used this the house and senate as the "middle" for their survey, which is of course, why they say Drudge leans left. That is nowhere near the truth, as it is nothing more then a right wing propaganda channel, same as faux.

If the media was truly liberal, as everyone suggests, why was plame not on the front page every day? You had whitewater on the front page for years. Here is why . . .

The people who put the paper together, the editors, tend to be conservative while the reporters tend to be liberal. You can show right wing bias by examining the front page of the paper on Nexus and giving a + or - rating for the topic.


It is as simple as this, just picture if Bill Clinton did what George Bush did, how do you think the press would react? Do you think Clinton could have gotten away with Iraq? And for all the NYTimes media bias, it's funny how the Bush Cabal had a reporter pimping their leaks. If the NYTimes was a "liberal" paper, they would never have published the Judith Miller stories.

[Johnny Punani]

There is a major flaw in that study Johnny, and it has been told here before. They use a time when you had a strong republican majority, and strong republican rhetoric in the house and senate. They used this the house and senate as the "middle" for their survey, which is of course, why they say Drudge leans left. That is nowhere near the truth, as it is nothing more then a right wing propaganda channel, same as faux.

If the media was truly liberal, as everyone suggests, why was plame not on the front page every day? You had whitewater on the front page for years. Here is why . . .

The people who put the paper together, the editors, tend to be conservative while the reporters tend to be liberal. You can show right wing bias by examining the front page of the paper on Nexus and giving a + or - rating for the topic.


It is as simple as this, just picture if Bill Clinton did what George Bush did, how do you think the press would react? Do you think Clinton could have gotten away with Iraq? And for all the NYTimes media bias, it's funny how the Bush Cabal had a reporter pimping their leaks. If the NYTimes was a "liberal" paper, they would never have published the Judith Miller stories.

You need to read that article a little closer Mike. It explains the "flaws" you suggested.

Here is one example...


Another finding that contradicted conventional wisdom was that the Drudge Report was slightly left of center.

"One thing people should keep in mind is that our data for the Drudge Report was based almost entirely on the articles that the Drudge Report lists on other Web sites," said Groseclose. "Very little was based on the stories that Matt Drudge himself wrote. The fact that the Drudge Report appears left of center is merely a reflection of the overall bias of the media."

[Burgold]

The fact that so many people think the media is biased is proof that the media isn't biased.

[Buford]

yet again, people should read about the Newspaper-Wars of Ben Franklin's era. Then some can stop being stupid and realize there has never been an era where the media is 100% in the center. Its usually a chunk tilting against those in power, and then a few who will support whoever is in power, no matter how foolish it looks.

[Teller]

Standard media, ie CNN, WP, NYT, ect, do lean slightly left at times though they try and present facts not opinions.

Washinton Times, Fox news, ect, are completely opinion based party loyalists with no interest in truth or fact. That's the difference. Some lean a little left, while the Rightie rags are unabashed right wing propogandists with no interest in news.

Edit: even shows like the Daily Show are more factually based than bs like faux news. They just don't even try to be neutral, nothing put party moutpieces.

Care to provide a specific example? If anything, the Times and Fox are something of a counterweight to the rest of the mainstream media. (i.e. CBS and it's fake-doc supported agenda.)

That's also why conservative talk radio does incredibly well, while liberal talk...well...can't survive.