This Just In: Media is Biased
That capitol of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, Harvard University, came to the conclusion that, in the current presidential campaign, the media tilts…well, wouldn’t want to spoil it for you. Read on.
Democrats are not only favored in the tone of the coverage. They get more coverage period. This is particularly evident on morning news shows, which “produced almost twice as many stories (51% to 27%) focused on Democratic candidates than on Republicans.”
The most flagrant bias, however, was found in newspapers. In reviewing front-page coverage in 11 newspapers, the study found the tone positive in nearly six times as many stories about Democrats as it was negative.
On cable news, the tilt was not quite as severe, but not for the reason you’re probably thinking.
The gap between Democrats and Republicans narrows on cable TV, but it’s there nonetheless. Stories about Democrats were positive in more than a third of the cases, while Republicans were portrayed favorably in fewer than 29%. Republican led in unfriendly stories 30.4% to 25.5%.
CNN was the most hostile toward Republicans, MSNBC, surprisingly, the most positive. MSNBC was also the most favorable toward Democrats (47.2%), Fox (36.8%) the most critical.
And for those who hold up Public Radio as the last refuge of the truly dispassionate, prepare for your bubble to be burst.
The anti-GOP attitude also lives on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” There, Democrats were approvingly covered more than a third as often as Republicans. Negative coverage of Democrats was a negligible 5.9%. It seemed to be reserved for Republicans, who were subject to one-fifth of the program’s disparaging reports.
This, of course, is not exactly news to those of us on the Right that have known this for quite some time. But for Media Matters, and the “Reality-Based Community” of the Left, reality will continue to be denied. There are none so blind as those who don’t want to see, and as long as the tilt is their way. You can almost hear Sergeant Schultz intone, “I hear nnnnothing, nothing!”
[tags]media bias,Project for Excellence in Journalism,Joan Shorenstein Center,Harvard,journalism,CNN,MSNBC,Fox News,National Public Radio,Morning Edition,Media Matters[/tags]
Filed under: Doug • Liberal • Media
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