Media Bias
 

[B][Continued from the McCain/Romney thread][/B]

Firstdown,

I don't agree with your claim that PBS is as biased to the left as Fox News is to the right. I think PBS is pretty balanced and far better than, say, CNN or Fox News. Keep in mind, I am an independent who leans right on about 50% of the "issues" and left on the other 50% of the "issues." As for Fox News' bias, I wasn't referring to the O'Reilly Factor, I was referring to their "news segments."

Re: Media Bias
 

I often struggle to see why it is simply accepted that Fox News is right wing fanatic while mainstream media is simply cneter-left. For my money watching Fox News I often wonder if the fact that they are not left simply makes them appear so much more conservative than they really are.

Alas I do find myself having to work to keep my opinions in check while watching the networks and CNN because I am so ingrained to be skeptical of their reporting. Bernie Goldberg's book on media bias is great and he wrote it before he ever started working for Fox News. His point is essentially that the media culture is one of liberals and that they do not intentionally turn the news left but they simply see the world through that view and their reporting reflects it.

I have less a problem with media bias than I do with with people who seem to want to assert that it doesn't exist or those who minimalize it.

Re: Media Bias
 

[QUOTE=FRPLG;419417]I often struggle to see why it is simply accepted that Fox News is right wing fanatic while mainstream media is simply cneter-left. For my money watching Fox News I often wonder if the fact that they are not left simply makes them appear so much more conservative than they really are.

Alas I do find myself having to work to keep my opinions in check while watching the networks and CNN because I am so ingrained to be skeptical of their reporting. Bernie Goldberg's book on media bias is great and he wrote it before he ever started working for Fox News. [B]His point is essentially that the media culture is one of liberals and that they do not intentionally turn the news left but they simply see the world through that view and their reporting reflects it[/B].

I have less a problem with media bias than I do with with people who seem to want to assert that it doesn't exist or those who minimalize it.[/QUOTE]

I read the book and agree with the bolded statement above. The difference between CNN and Fox News is that most mainstream media outlets unintentionally/subtly lean left whereas Fox News is unabashedly right leaning. Fox News has a purpose, it caters to those who feel the mainstream media is too liberal.

As a centrist independent, I think it's pretty clear that Fox is more biased than most news outlets, even if there are more numerous left-leaning media outlets. Do you really disagree with that statement?

Re: Media Bias
 

[QUOTE=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;419420]I read the book and agree with the bolded statement above. The difference between CNN and Fox News is that most mainstream media outlets unintentionally/subtly lean left whereas Fox News is unabashedly right leaning. Fox News has a purpose, it caters to those who feel the mainstream media is too liberal.

As a centrist independent, I think it's pretty clear that Fox is more biased than most news outlets, even if there are more numerous left-leaning media outlets. Do you really disagree with that statement?[/QUOTE]

I'd probably agree that they are more overtly biased. They have people who are recognized as leaning one way or the other and they do seem to accept the notion of media bias. Being as their slogan is "Fair and Balanced". Whether they are moreso biased than others I may not be able to tell but I would say at least they don't just ignore the notion of bias like the networks and CNN basically do.

Re: Media Bias
 

Honestly I don't really care much for CNN or Fox or MSNBC for that matter. I expect news outlets to report the news not have some talking head telling me their opinions as if they were fact. My main problem with Fox is that they claim to be "Fair and Balanced" which I find very insulting. Seriously, that has to be a joke. They often dumb down their news, almost to a Jerry Springerish level.

And yes, there is biased everywhere. To be human is to have bias even if you don't think you have none.

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;419406][B][Continued from the McCain/Romney thread][/B]

Firstdown,

I don't agree with your claim that PBS is as biased to the left as Fox News is to the right. I think PBS is pretty balanced and far better than, say, CNN or Fox News. Keep in mind, I am an independent who leans right on about 50% of the "issues" and left on the other 50% of the "issues." As for Fox News' bias, I wasn't referring to the O'Reilly Factor, I was referring to their "news segments."[/quote]
Everything they talk about is bashing the Rep party and Bush. I can not think of the guys name he is a left winger and he even says that PBS leans heavy to the left. Why do you think that the Rep. party wanted to cut off funds to PBS?

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=saden1;419436]Honestly I don't really care much for CNN or Fox or MSNBC for that matter. I expect news outlets to report the news not have some talking head telling me their opinions as it they were fact. My main problem with Fox is that they claim to be "Fair and Balanced" which I find very insulting. Seriously, that has to be a joke. They often dumb down their news, almost to a Jerry Springerish level.[/quote]
Speaking of MSNBC. Last Tuesday night in their coverage of the election and the results they showed Hillary & Obama's picture whith these big smiles. When they showed the Rep. they all had frowns and just laughed. I almost started a thread about that. So watch the next primary. It sounds like we all pretty much agree that their is bias in the media but disagree on how much from different sources.

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=firstdown;419437]Everything they talk about is bashing the Rep party and Bush. I can not think of the guys name he is a left winger and he even says that PBS leans heavy to the left. Why do you think that the Rep. party wanted to cut off funds to PBS?[/quote]

A PBS show, Bill Moyer Journal, convinced me that Bill Clinton needed to be impeached and I believe that's the most liberal show on PBS.

I find PBS by far the best source for pure news. They truly report the news, news that really matters.

Re: Media Bias
 

[QUOTE=firstdown;419437]Everything they talk about is bashing the Rep party and Bush. I can not think of the guys name he is a left winger and he even says that PBS leans heavy to the left. Why do you think that the Rep. party wanted to cut off funds to PBS?[/QUOTE]

I don't think that's necessarily true. Moreover, Bush hasn't been a great success. He's pretty unpopular with people of all political affiliations. I support the surge, but the Iraq Qar was a mistake of massive proportions. Bush has managed to alienate most of our allies, even after they rallied to our cause after 9/11. The economy is in or headed for a recession. The Bush administration has been riddled with scandals and the list goes on. Again, I'm no leftie, but it's pretty hard not to be hard on Bush.

Re: Media Bias
 

Just a pet peeve, but why not throw it in here: appropriate use of the term "bias."

[B]Good:[/B] Fox News has an incredible right-wing bias.
[B]Bad:[/B] Fox News has an incredible right-wing biased.

[B]Good:[/B] CNN is biased.
[B]Bad:[/B] CNN is bias.

[B]Good:[/B] Everyone has a little bias.
[B]Bad:[/B] Everyone has a little biased.

Re: Media Bias
 

The thing people don't realize about Fox News is that it's actually run by a Republican - Roger Ailes. Just do a quick profile search on the guy and you see that he spent most of his career as a Republican political operative (like Karl Rove) and only later got into media. That's totally different from other news stations and should be pretty revealing about where Fox is coming from.

Re: Media Bias
 

The quality of newscasts has dropped through the floor. The only factor keeping me from throwing objects at my tv in disgust is the amount of money it costs. How people can watch the pure drivel that FOX broadcasts and accept it as anything approaching fact appalls me. I'm an effing republican and I just don't get it. Do people just like hearing their own viewpoints coming out of the television so much that they are not only completely willing, but EAGER, to completely suspend disbelief and nod along, slack-jawed with whatever talking head is spouting off? It's pathetic.

Re: Media Bias
 

[QUOTE=saden1;419436]Honestly I don't really care much for CNN or Fox or MSNBC for that matter. I expect news outlets to report the news not have some talking head telling me their opinions as if they were fact. My main problem with Fox is that they claim to be "Fair and Balanced" which I find very insulting. Seriously, that has to be a joke. They often dumb down their news, almost to a Jerry Springerish level.

And yes, there is biased everywhere. [B]To be human is to have bias even if you don't think you have none[/B].[/QUOTE]

That's true but it's one thing to inadvertently project personal bias onto a story/issue, completely another to build bias into your network's identity.

Re: Media Bias
 

At least Fox never pushed phony documents on the public in an attempt to discredit a politician they didn't like. Dan Rather is still telling people he thinks they were real. But what am I saying. CBS did an internal investigation and determined that nothing that happened there was the result of bias. So, CBS has spoken and CBS says that CBS is not biased.

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[quote=The Goat;419511]The thing people don't realize about Fox News is that it's actually run by a Republican - Roger Ailes. Just do a quick profile search on the guy and you see that he spent most of his career as a Republican political operative (like Karl Rove) and only later got into media. That's totally different from other news stations and should be pretty revealing about where Fox is coming from.[/quote]

This is great. Roger Ailes is the [I]only[/I] Republican that runs any major news outlet in this country so that is taken as a sign of bias. If he were a Democrat like all the others, he would, by definition, be unbiased. I think Fox should agree to fire everyone who is a Republican on the same day that all the other networks fire all their Democrats.

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=FRPLG;419417]I often struggle to see why it is simply accepted that Fox News is right wing fanatic while mainstream media is simply cneter-left. For my money watching Fox News I often wonder if the fact that they are not left simply makes them appear so much more conservative than they really are.

[/quote]


BINGO !! :goodjob: you win .

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;419457]I don't think that's necessarily true. Moreover, Bush hasn't been a great success. He's pretty unpopular with people of all political affiliations. I support the surge, but the Iraq Qar was a mistake of massive proportions. Bush has managed to alienate most of our allies, even after they rallied to our cause after 9/11. The economy is in or headed for a recession. The Bush administration has been riddled with scandals and the list goes on. Again, I'm no leftie, but it's pretty hard not to be hard on Bush.[/quote]

You may be the only person in the country who is "not a leftie" and also doesn't think that PBS has a Liberal Bias. That's not a position that Centrists or Conservatives generally hold. It's an interesting technique, though. You hear it on C-Span call in shows a lot: "I've been a Republican all my life, but this year I'm voting for the Democrats". Sure. Whatever.

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[QUOTE=70Chip;420280]You may be the only person in the country who is "not a leftie" and also doesn't think that PBS has a Liberal Bias. That's not a position that Centrists or Conservatives generally hold. It's an interesting technique, though. You hear it on C-Span call in shows a lot: "I've been a Republican all my life, but this year I'm voting for the Democrats". Sure. Whatever.[/QUOTE]

No need to imply that I'm lying about my centrist credentials. As many left-leaning people on this site who are familiar with me know (dmek, Matty, Shane), I am FAR from a "leftie." I'm pro-surge, pro death penalty, pro free trade/globalization, detest Hillary Clinton, anti-late term abortion etc. I'm also pro-choice (with limitations), pro gay marriage, and will most likely vote for Obama. In the minds of most of my friends off of this site, I'm known as more right leaning than left leaning. I'm only viewed as more left-leaning than right-leaning by party-line conservatives.

As for PBS' supposed bias, please elaborate? My guess is you don't watch it that much.

Re: Media Bias
 

I am an Independant, but I certainly lean to the right, that being said, I will agree Foxnews caters to the right, however, I listen to them because they are the only ones that will actually speak about right wing issues. NBC is notorious for being left, and when you watch, they will do their best to deter you from listening to the right wing issues. I enjoy watching foxnews for the simple fact they will speak about all the issues, and all the angles. I feel they are much easier to learn from instead of watching other shows and being bombarded by what the person you are watching thinks.

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;420289]No need to imply that I'm lying about my centrist credentials. As many left-leaning people on this site who are familiar with me know (dmek, Matty, Shane), I am FAR from a "leftie." I'm pro-surge, pro death penalty, pro free trade/globalization, detest Hillary Clinton, anti-late term abortion etc. I'm also pro-choice (with limitations), pro gay marriage, and will most likely vote for Obama. In the minds of most of my friends off of this site, I'm known as more right leaning than left leaning. I'm only viewed as more left-leaning than right-leaning by party-line conservatives.

As for PBS' supposed bias, please elaborate? My guess is you don't watch it that much.[/quote]

I don't think you're being dishonest. I also don't think that detesting Hillary Clinton or being against Partial Birth makes you right leaning. After all, Baraq is the more liberal of the two. I don't go along with everything the right believes but that hardly makes me a "centrist". The pundit-class has made a fetish of the notion of being in the "center". There is an assumption that if you are part one thing and part another you are more thoughtful or even psychologically more balanced. I don't accept that.

I watch PBS quite a bit. The NewsHour is reasonably fair. Probably more balanced than many others, however:

Charlie Rose -Liberal
Tavis Smiley -Liberal
Bill Moyers -Liberal
Frontline -Liberal
American Experience -Somewhat Less Liberal

I also suspect that Norm Abram from This Old House was in the Weather Underground, though I have never been able to prove it. And don't get me started on Big Bird or that guy from Blues Clues.

Re: Media Bias
 

70Chip,

You do realize that the President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the former co-Chair of the Republican National Committee and a majority of the board of directors are Republicans?

Re: Media Bias
 

[QUOTE=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;420372]70Chip,

You do realize that the Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a Republican and a majority of the board of directors are Republicans?[/QUOTE]


And that Blue's Clues is on Noggin :)

Re: Media Bias
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;420375]And that Blue's Clues is on Noggin :)[/QUOTE]

Yup, but PBS does have the Teletubbies (which include the gay/purple and red/communist insurgent creatures).

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=70Chip;420321]I don't think you're being dishonest. I also don't think that detesting Hillary Clinton or being against Partial Birth makes you right leaning. After all, Baraq is the more liberal of the two. I don't go along with everything the right believes but that hardly makes me a "centrist". The pundit-class has made a fetish of the notion of being in the "center". There is an assumption that if you are part one thing and part another you are more thoughtful or even psychologically more balanced. I don't accept that.

I watch PBS quite a bit. The NewsHour is reasonably fair. Probably more balanced than many others, however:

Charlie Rose -Liberal
Tavis Smiley -Liberal
Bill Moyers -Liberal
Frontline -Liberal
American Experience -Somewhat Less Liberal

I also suspect that Norm Abram from This Old House was in the Weather Underground, though I have never been able to prove it. And don't get me started on Big Bird or that guy from Blues Clues.[/quote]

There is no denying that most of the folks on PBS are liberal the question is do they talk about worthy issues and topics? Fox, CNN, MSNBC put together don't cover half of the stuff PBS reports on. I suppose it's all a matter of taste. [URL="http://www.charlierose.com/search/"]Charlie Rose[/URL] interviews the most obscure people, people you never hear about but should. [URL="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/archives/archives.php"]Bill Moyer[/URL] brings you interesting stories rather than what Britney has been up to. Tavis Smiley covers quite a bit of topics that concern African Americans but the topics [URL="http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/"]are very broad[/URL] and are not limited to just African Americans.

Viva la PBS :)

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;420372]70Chip,

You do realize that the President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the former co-Chair of the Republican National Committee and a majority of the board of directors are Republicans?[/quote]

Yeah, but they don't have anything to do with content. That's just a by-product of the fact that the GOP controlled congress from 1995 to 2007. They should have just scrapped the whole thing, instead they use it to give status jobs to their friends. I think if you want to know what the prevailing attitude of the people who actuallyu control what is seen on PBS, the following story is instructive:

[url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/529htbdv.asp]Frank Gaffney vs. PBS[/url]

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=saden1;420423]There is no denying that most of the folks on PBS are liberal the question is do they talk about worthy issues and topics? Fox, CNN, MSNBC put together don't cover half of the stuff PBS reports on. I suppose it's all a matter of taste. [URL="http://www.charlierose.com/search/"]Charlie Rose[/URL] interviews the most obscure people, people you never hear about but should. [URL="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/archives/archives.php"]Bill Moyer[/URL] brings you interesting stories rather than what Britney has been up to. Tavis Smiley covers quite a bit of topics that concern African Americans but the topics [URL="http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/"]are very broad[/URL] and are not limited to just African Americans.

Viva la PBS :)[/quote]


I like it too. But the fact that I enjoy it doesn't make me feel the need to pretend that its not reflective of a very narrow viewpoint. And, we haven't even touched on the subject of NPR, yet.

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;420372]70Chip,

You do realize that the President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the former co-Chair of the Republican National Committee and a majority of the board of directors are Republicans?[/quote]
I think Public radio is owned by the tax payers and I don't think they are a corporation.

Re: Media Bias
 

[quote=70Chip;420513][B]Yeah, but they don't have anything to do with[/B] [B]content.[/B] That's just a by-product of the fact that the GOP controlled congress from 1995 to 2007. They should have just scrapped the whole thing, instead they use it to give status jobs to their friends. I think if you want to know what the prevailing attitude of the people who actuallyu control what is seen on PBS, the following story is instructive:

[URL="http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/529htbdv.asp"]Frank Gaffney vs. PBS[/URL][/quote]
do you really believe that the board that runs the network doesn't have a say on what is put on? i agree that all news is slanted. i think the degree of the bias is the question. it seems fox goes over board in slanting towards the G.O.P. you can still get some real news out of the others, if you try hard enough. fox news is more interested in the entertainment value

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I just remembered that the ex-hippe father on "Family Ties", played by Micheal Gross, was the manager of the local PBS station on the show, which I think shows that the perception even in Hollywood is that PBS is Leftish.

Re: Media Bias
 

I worked for PBS for a year and I'm not a Lefty (except for when I play hockey)

Re: Media Bias
 

[QUOTE=70Chip;420817]I just remembered that the ex-hippe father on "Family Ties", played by Micheal Gross, was the manager of the local PBS station on the show, which I think shows that the perception even in Hollywood is that PBS is Leftish.[/QUOTE]

Are there lefties working at PBS? Yes. Does PBS air programs with a left-leaning slant? Yes. Do people perceive PBS as left-leaning? Yup. It is simply my opinion that PBS airs some of the most balanced, informative, and interesting television programs. PBS doesn't have Glenn Becks, Keith Obermans, Lou Dobbs, or O'Reillys on its airwaves. PBS doesn't try to make its programs sexy, it tries to make them informative. They don't air story after story about Britney showing her s****h in public, Jessica Simpson's latest boyfriend, etc.

I will leave it at that.