TokyoNiGHTS

This has become a big discussion in the Mel Gibson thread and has since derailed it, so I decided to make this topic so we can specifically focus on the topic.

I do think there is a general left lean to the media. But its not nearly as over the topic as some try to make it out to be. Just look at the recent John Kerry comments. He was obviously referring to Bush but the media has spun it into him describing our troops. And you've also got the Limbaugh scandel with this happening

Media Matters - Playing nice with Rush Limbaugh

With that said, I think it's highly unrealistic to expect people in the media to be completely unbiased when it comes to speaking on politics. The most we should realistically expect is for networks to hire people on both sides of the fence. In that case you can have some sort of balance when moving from show to show and would be able to get both viewpoints.

chicah

If you think YOUR media is left-biased, I am really starting to wonder what you would consider left wing. From what I've read and seen of your media, it's quite conservative, not left-biased at all. Just reading about for instance the Cold War, Iraq war, Bush and so on on wikipedia shows the difference between the english version and the norwegian version. There really is a quite visible difference. And this is on a supposedly objective information source...

Lexis

I think that sometimes media organisations can take an partisan editorial position i.e. newspapers endorse a candidate for President.

Fox News if often cited because its part of the Murdoch empire - he owns newspapers and news channels across the globe. And a large number of them take the same editorial position as Murdoch i.e. Pro-Iraq war. In the UK, there has been concern that Murdoch's (and his organisations) support of Tony Blair (after years opposing Labour) is due to his personal interest in Blair's policies.

That said, political-economic factors aren't the be all and end all of media production.

I do think that media professionals trend left - this is my personal opinion, based on my experiences. But I think its important that we make the distinction between a personal belief and a professional work ethic. It is quite simple as a journalist to write a story entitled "Kerry accused of attacking troops", outlining the criticisms against him. But you also then tell the other side of the story - what has Kerry said?

Ultimatly, we need to understand that working on the media does not mean working in a bubble. Media professionals are entitled to be part of their own countries political process. Doesn't mean to say they can't put that aside and write a fair piece.

Of course, most of what I just wrote focuses on those working in the news/current affairs arena where I think neutrality at work is more important. If Sorkin writes an anti-Republican speech for one of his characters, I feel its of less importance than a newscaster making an anti-Republican speech.

ceilirose

It's more corporate and profit driven then influenced by political ideologies. Even this whole Kerry thing - up until Monday the story of the mid-term elections has been basically bad news for the Republicans. Kerry says something controversial and boom...the networks are all over it.

Kerry was actually trying to say that Bush was the stupid one and botched it. If you read the whole text and see it in context it's pretty clear. But the talking heads are running with it - it's controversy, it equals better ratings and they'll play it for all it's worth. November is also the month where the tv ratings are looked at in more detail and I think advertisers use these ratings to decide where they will place their ads. It boils down to cold, hard cash.

Anyway - in April '04 Bush made a speech where he joked about not finding WMD's in Iraq. He filmed a video of him looking under the sofa, under his desk, asking his dog where they were, etc. etc. The reaction from the press in this country? Some were appalled but most thought it was funny. In my mind that was ten times worse than what Kerry said. Bush never apologized for it and no one asked him too. The liberal media bias? Please.

As for Fox News - they should just come out and say they have a more conservative bias. Everyone knows it and at least they'd be honest rather than the "fair and balanced" slogan they're always talking about.

rose parade

My friend works at this cafe and the owners put on FOX NEWS in the morning. Customers have decided not to stay JUST because of this.

sum1

Looks to me like a lot of people on the left have no trouble seeing Fox's right wing bias but have trouble seeing the left wing bias found in a lot of the media.

TokyoNiGHTS

I know alot of foreign countries are alot more liberal than the US, but in terms of what the US considers "liberal" our media is mostly along that line. When it comes to the war for example I think our media has become very liberal on it. Alot of people are tired of it and tired of the lies that come from our admisntration about it and are becoming more vocal about it. Ofcourse there are other issues where they're very conservative on issues.

FOX is really the worst offender when it comes to media bias. It's so unbelievably blatant about it and that's why they more than any other network are able to get interviews with people in this adminstration, whether it be Bush, Cheney ect. And hey that's fine, but when people want to come down on media bias its always on the CNN's or MSNBC's of the world and never the most blatant offender of this. I personally don't have a problem with media bias all that much because like I said, I think it's expected. But for those that do it doesn't much sense to exclude FOX news when discussing it.

ceilirose

Like I said above I don't have a problem with Fox's bias either. My problem is that they profess to be fair and they're not. What I've never heard from those who constantly say that CNN and MSNBC are liberal/left is examples of that bias. For me they can go both ways. Most of the time I just think they're lazy and report whatever talking points that come from either the Republicans or Democrats.

Also TokyoNiGHTS is right - Rush Limbaugh did not apologize for his comments about Michael J Fox as most mainstream media had reported. He said he would apologize if he was proven wrong. Let's not all hold our breath.

Lexis

Plenty of left-leaning media to mention - The Independent (UK newspaper) is the one I think is the oddest example. I think I read someone it was trying to position itself as a centrist paper when it go started but it ended up going completely to the left.

I think that some news shows are biased to the left - Keith Olbermann clearly has a distaste for Bush and isn't afraid to let it show. But something tells me if he saw a Democrat was screwing up, he wouldn't mind attacking them either.

ceilirose

I don't think so either. However Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson (both Conservatives) have their own shows on MSNBC. Chris Matthews of Hardball who when viewing a video of Bush at an Inaugural Ball said " what a guy" can hardly be called liberal leaning. He does go after both sides. So yes MSNBC has Olbermann but they also have the others.

So MSNBC is so liberal? No..I don't think so.

I just saw this at americablog.blogspot.com - it's from CNN's Situation Room - Boehner is right after Hastert in the Republican Congress:

As far as liberal media bias goes - let see if Boehner takes any heat for this. To me he's blaming the military for the mess that is Iraq on a certain level and not Rumsfeld, God forbid. I doubt very much anything will happen because the WH/Republicans will find a way to spin it, deny it, etc. and the WH press corps will do nothing to challenge it. I hope they prove me wrong but I doubt it.

Jacob1983

I will 100 percent agree that Fox News is conservative and Republican bias. But it's the only major news network that is conservative/Republican bias. People love to say that Fox News was made by the Bush administration. That is wrong. Fox News was on when Mr. Bill Clinton was president. The others such as CNN, MSNBC, and HLN are all liberal bias. I was watching Bush talk yesterday and he was commenting on Kerry's questionable comments about our troops and Fox News and MSNBC both showed the rally where Bush was speaking but liberal CNN chose not to. I do think there is a huge liberal bias in the media.

I don't believe that Kerry honestly thinks that our troops are stupid. I do think that he should have chosen a better and less confusing way to diss Bush. Kerry says that Bush owes an apology to the American public about the war in Iraq. If that's true then John Kerry should also give an apology to the American public because Mr. Kerry voted for the war in Iraq in the initial stages of it. The one thing that really puzzles me is how Kerry has constantly criticized our troops and I'm not just talking about his recent comments. In the past, he has called our troops murderers, rapists, and other bad names.

ceilirose

The only people who owe apologies to the American public are Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld for the mess they've created and that's not coming anytime soon.

So did many Republicans who are now criticizing the war and distancing themselves from Bush. It's not a story anymore.

You're talking about the lies that the Swiftboat Veterans were pretty much allowed to repeat again and again in 2004. The "liberal" media let them do it. I'm guessing you believe it, right? Their lies were allowed to go on, pretty much unchallenged and now to some it's the truth.

Here's a link about that - it disputes the Swiftboat lies.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200408300005

Jacob1983

Nope. John Kerry, Hilary Clinton and other notable Democrats initially voted for the war in Iraq and supported it in the beginning. You can't ignore that. The Democrats and some Republicans need stop ganging up on Bush about the war in Iraq. If Bush has to apologize, then Kerry should have to apologize too for being a digrace to the military. I've never once heard John Kerry say a nice positive thing about military. I know the he served in Vietnam and that's great that he did that but he doesn't have to constantly bash and trash our military. Our military is the best in the world in my opinion.

Democrats don't want to fight terrorists. They just want to give up and pretend like things are like they were before 9/11. Newsflash for all Democrats, 9/11 happened and it changed America and the world forever. Democrats and some Republicans love to criticize Bush on the war in Iraq and the war on terror but they offer no solutions. I mean what would the Democrats do to fight the war on terror? I really want to know. Democrats care more about special interests groups than fighting terrorism in my opinion. That's one reason why I don't vote for them.

I want to know what is the plan for Democrats when it comes to fighting terrorism.

ceilirose

You can't ignore the fact that the information they used to vote on the war wasn't correct or truthful. Take your pick.

You can't ignore the fact that Bush didn't have a plan for post war Iraq and he's responsible for what has happened there now. It's all on him.

Then you need to do a little more research if you believe that because you're wrong about Kerry.

Right..you know that is so much conservative/Republican propoganda that it's sad. Why don't you give me a quote from a prominent Democrat who has said that we shouldn't fight terrorism?

Heck..I'd like to know what Bush's plan is..he's your President.

OT - Boehner criticized the military today but so far no demands that he apologize yet other than from Reid and Dean. As far as I know it isn't the media fenzy that Kerry's statement created yesterday. The liberal media strikes again. They're right on it.

Amaria

Exactly. Like every American, Kerry was told there were WMDs and many other things that have now been proven to be lies.

And as someone who was actually in the audience on Monday, I just wanted to say that the hoolabaloo about Kerry's comments are ridiculous. If the media had just taken what he said in context, this wouldn't be a controversy at all. It would simply be another example of an unfunny man making another failed attempt at a joke (and actually, his ineptitude at telling jokes and therefore puzzling insistense on telling them is one reason I love Kerry -- reminds me of my father and grandfather). So left-wing bias? Nah, not so much.