Much of the American media enjoys thinking of itself as an avant-garde group, ready to tell truth to power, while engaging in Woodward-Bernstein style investigative journalism. Sadly, the truth is significantly different. Despite studies, some over a decade old, that clearly indicate an extensive left-wing bias, the problem is only growing worse.
Meg Sullivan, writing for the UCLA Newsroom in 2005, found that “…almost all major media outlets tilt to the left…” Citing a study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Sullivan reported that “Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center…”
On occasion, brief flashes of self-awareness creep into the minds of the industry, when forced to do so by vociferous criticism. In 2009, Thomas Edsall, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review noted that “…FOX, and a couple of conservative video reporters have, in effect, forced the editors and ombudsmen at two of the nation’s leading newspapers, the Times and The Washington Post, to assume a full-scale defensive posture regarding charges of liberal bias…The actions at both the Post and the Times… do little or nothing to address the underlying reality at most papers…The mainstream press is liberal….the more pervasive and subtle form liberal ‘blindness’ takes is in routine coverage. Stories, local and national, of virtually every culture-war issue commonly reflect reporters’ allegiance to social insurgents against traditionalists…”
Fraser Seitel, in an Odwyers column (the publication specializes in public relations and marketing) notes that the Washington Post “has increasingly become a willing spear-carrier for liberal political causes.” He found that “Advocacy journalism in the 21st century — whether an “independent news service” attacking climate change deniers or an “actor journalist” protecting a murdering drug lord — has become an accepted fact of life…”
Moving away from elitist circles like the Washington Post or Columbia Journalism, some local papers have taken partisanship to a whole new, and extremely low, level. New York City’s Daily News is a primary example. Consider these front-page headlines and illustrations about the President:
- A photo of Trump with his hand raised, with the caption “The New Furor.”
- A photo of Trump, with the caption “Anti-Christ!”
- A photo of Trump, with clown make-up, with the caption “Dawn of the Brain Dead.”
- A caricature of Trump as a pile of dung, with the caption “S**t for brains.”
- An illustration of the White House, with the caption, “House of Horrors.”
- An illustration of Trump bearing a bloody knife, holding a severed head of the Statue of Liberty.
- An illustration Of Trump with a pig snout.
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Those front pages would be considered too low-brow for Mad Magazine, let alone a major and established urban newspaper. Consider that first example. Recently, television host Laura Ingraham was savaged for comparing the stiff-armed salute of David Hogg, who has become the face of the well-financed anti-Second Amendment movement, to a Nazi gesture. But repeated and unsupported charges of racism against the President, or other sources not favored by the leftist media elites, are considered to be wholly acceptable.
The techniques of highly partisan journalism, both traditional and new, include giving credence to allegedly “nonpartisan” sources who are, in fact, extensively biased in favor of the left.
Ben Kamisar, writing for The Hill notes that the Southern Poverty Law Center, a harshly left-wing group, is helping YouTube decide what content is “too offensive” for the video platform.
In a speech by Ted Koppel, discussed by Kevin Cody in EasyReaderNews the veteran newsman, who has been critical of partisan journalism on both sides, noted: “… the separation between news reporting and opinion has eroded not only on cable and news, but in newspapers, including the New York Times and Washington Post…I genuinely believe journalists need to be reminded we are dealing with factual reporting and to leave opinions to the opinion page. We need to restore the old standards and exercise more discipline. The purpose of journalism is to lay out the facts and let readers make their own decisions…”