Let's Talk Bias

Let's be honest, the media's true bias is sensationalism and newness. Nothing gets under my skin more than the "Liberal media bias" strawman, and apparently I'm not the only one. Even Fox News' Shepard Smith (that's right, Fox) is tired of the ridiculousness of this scapegoat:

The Right's "bias" charade - It's time to put these face-value assertions to rest.

Source: mediamatters.org

The truth is that when John McCain says "jump," the media still ask, "How high?" Think about this: When was the last time McCain or his campaign has wanted the news media to focus on something, and they have refused? From "lipstick on a pig" to Bill Ayers, the media have scampered after whatever mud McCain has flung, like a puppy dog chasing a stick thrown by its master. Sure, sometimes they have pointed out that McCain is lying -- and that's tremendous progress for a profession that has spent a decade flatly asserting McCain's honesty. But -- as I've explained in the past -- even as they've debunked McCain's claims, they've too often privileged the lie by allowing those claims to drive their coverage.

The long-term goals of the right wing's attacks on the media: to delegitimize an Obama presidency in the eyes of many Americans, and to browbeat journalists into covering an Obama administration much more critically than they otherwise would.

Whether those goals are met depends in part on whether journalists take the attacks seriously, or recognize them as the predictable continuation of a right-wing work-the-refs strategy that is so fraudulent it even involved claiming the media were devoting insufficient attention to Monica Lewinsky. And it depends in part on whether progressives push back on the bogus narrative that the media handed Obama the election, or simply ignore it.

Why McCain is getting hosed in the press - John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei - Politico.com

Source: www.politico.com

Some see a mother lode of bias in this year's election coverage. But there are other factors at play....indulge us in noting that the subject of ideological bias in the news media is a drag. The people who care about it typically come at the issue with scalding biases of their own. Any statement journalists make on the subject can and will be used against them. So the incentive is to make bland and guarded statements. Even honest ones, meanwhile, will tend to strike partisans as evasive or self-delusional.

In efforts to look balanced at all costs this campaign's coverage and even fact checkers have been too often awash with false equivalence and balance for the sake of balance, neither of which honor truth in an effort to not be labeled or discounted. If there are 3 Factual stories breaking that are unflattering toward one candidate and only 1 Factual story unflattering toward the other, there is no integrity in airing one and one for the sake of a false balance. Tell the truth. That is the job. That is the responsibility. As the journalist says,

"Imposing artificial balance on this reality would be a bias of its own....when journalists try so hard to avoid accusations of favoritism it clouds critical judgment. A good example were stories suggesting Palin held her own or even won her debate against Joe Biden when it seemed obvious she was simply invoking whatever talking points she had at hand, hanging on for dear life."