Media Bias, Left

MOST PEOPLE believe the media are not objective or neutral. For example, one study found 90 percent of Americans believe reporters are influenced by their personal political views. The same media accused of being biased are responsible for reporting about the issue of media bias, one of the only institutions asked to be its own watchdog. Of those who believe the media is biased, the most frequent claim is that it leans left; in fact such claims outnumber claims of right bias four to one.

The loudest complaints about media bias have come from Republican politicians. Presidents as far back as Dwight Eisenhower have complained about the so-called liberal media. “Regular people,” who are perceived by Americans as more credible than politicians, also seem to believe the media leans left. The argument that there is a liberal media includes more than just newspapers or television. Claims generally refer to the [Page 305]“seven sisters”: television networks CBS, NBC, and ABC; newspapers the New York Times and the Washington Post; and news magazines Time and Newsweek. Some have also charged the entertainment media with leaning left as well. Sorting out which way the media leans is complicated by the fact that the terms liberal, left, conservative, and right are not clearly defined. Some people on the left feel many self-proclaimed liberals are actually more moderate than liberal.

The left generally responds to claims there is a liberal media that, in actuality, the media leans right. Although research generally shows that reporters describe themselves as liberals, the left asserts that those who own the media are much more important. In fact, there is really no consensus on whether journalists' beliefs are farther left than the general public. Some studies have shown that in regard to certain issues, including corporate interests and healthcare, journalists are more conservative than most. In general, journalists' beliefs seem to be more centrist than left. Regardless of their beliefs, while journalists may provide the labor, media owners have editorial control regarding what items are included in broadcasts and other media outlets.

Similarly, owners of entertainment media dictate what types of films are made and what types of television shows are aired. In entertainment media in particular, the profit motive drives action and skews coverage toward the conservative status quo. This is largely due to the importance of advertising, as executives cannot risk offending or dissatisfying advertisers with controversial content. Television programming is especially well suited to lean right because of its simple and quick style. It takes a great deal of time to delve into the complex concerns of the left, for example topics such as poverty, racism, sexism, and crime.

The left also points to the increased control of the media in a few hands in explaining why the media are more likely to be right-biased. There are more media outlets today than ever before, which would seem to offer the public greater diversity of opinion. Yet there are only six major companies that control what the public sees, hears, and reads: TimeWarner, Disney, Viacom, General Electric, the News Corporation, and Bertelsmann. Each company owns a number of other companies, creating a very narrow flow of information. For instance, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation owns: Fox Broadcasting Network; Fox Television, including over 20 U.S. stations and the largest station group reaching more than 40 percent of U.S. households; Fox News Channel; a major stake in several cable networks, including FX, Fox Sports Net, National Geographic Channel, and Fox Family Channel; film producers 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox International, 20th Century Fox Television, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; more than 130 English-language newspapers, including the London Times and the New York Post; 25 magazines, including the widely read TV Guide; book publishers HarperCollins and Zondervan; Fox Interactive, News Interactive, and http://foxnews.com; Festival Records, and other nonmedia holdings, including the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

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