Does the media in America have a liberal or conservative bias?

I was at a social function the other day and overheard some very interesting conversations. In one corner of the room there were people complaining about how the media is so liberal and in the same room, another group was talking about the conservative bias in our mainstream media. What do you guys think and why?

Does the media in America have a liberal or conservative bias?
The overwhelming majority of media newsrooms are Democrat voters, and more media people identify themselves as liberal as opposed to conservative.





Bernard Goldberg, himself a liberal Democrat in the media, wrote a book called "Bias", where he demonstrates the liberal bias that is in the media. His claim, and it makes sense if you think about it, is that when you have a newsroom where over 80% of the people vote Democratic, the natural bias of a common political belief is impossible to keep from coloring the news. This is because they don't notice the bias, because that is how they themselves think.





Not by design. But there comes a point where the bias is simply overwhelming, such as Dan Rather's "fake but accurate" accounts of Bush's alleged AWOL. When someone says it's not the accuracy of the documents, but the seriousness of the charge that matters, it's hard not to conclude they're completely blind to their bias.





There have been other studies that tallied up things like positive stories vs negative stories on presidential candidates (more positives for Dems, more negatives for Reps), or the use of charged words towards the left or right ("right-wing" vs "left-wing", "controversial" describing a Dem or a Rep, etc) and others that quite clearly show that most major media outlets have more negative stories about Republicans, and use more negatively charged words about Republicans.





I could also point to the general shock and dismay evident in many newscasts in the 1994 elections when the Republicans took control of Congress, as opposed to the celebratory atmosphere and outright giddiness of the newscasts in the 2006 elections, which saw Democrats regain control of Congress.





There are a lot of indicators that would cause a political litmus test to show them as "blue", but that would require having an open mind - an asset that doesn't appear as plentiful on the left as they like to assume.
Reply:Depends on what your viewpoint is.





In truth some of the media is very liberal and some of the media is very conservative..so the real answer is that it is both...because both make great news with all their mudslinging and name calling
Reply:Underground has got it pretty close -- lazy, sensational and not particulary insightful or bright. Profit oriented. The "Liberal Media Bias" mantra of the Right wing is an easily disproved fiction. In the year 2000 the mainstream media was pro Bush and made Gore out to be a stiff nerd while Bush was a "regular guy" and they didn't scrutinize Bush at all. They supported Bush's invasion of Iraq and supposedly liberal New York Times had Judy Miller basically working as a mouthpiece for the Bush admistration, uncriticaly restating the Bush party line.
Reply:It's definitely got a pro-Israel bias.
Reply:I really think that each news outlet is different.


If you want to hear different views on the same subject just switch channels


Its a pick and choose ideal which news source a person listens to
Reply:liberal bias
Reply:I think whoever presents the news often has a personal bias.
Reply:Oh please, liberal.
Reply:Mostly liberal, but fox news has a conservative bias. Of course most liberals would deny any bias and state that fox news isn't a real news station.
Reply:My take on it is both, but reporters put too much of there personal opinion into there reporting and not just reporting the news evenly. I think thats the problem.
Reply:American Media is /huge/. Overally, it probably has a Liberal bias - if you measure from some theoretical 'middle' - but some media outlets are more biased than others, and some, like talk radio, defy the mode average and have a conservative bias.





How biased a media outlet looks to you tends to depend on where you sit on the political spectrum - if you're far right, everyone except Michael Savage seems to exhibit liberal bias. If you're far left, even mainstream networks start to look pretty conservative, and FOX News looks like it has Hitler's Brain as a programming director.
Reply:Guess it depends on your point of view...if you think Ted Kennedy is a right winger then you would think the news is conservative...if you find Rush Limbaugh to be a commi socialist well you are thinking the media is liberal.





Also what is the "media"? Talk radio? Well that is more conservative than liberal. News papers? The NY Times...much more liberal.





I like to read/hear all I can - liberal %26amp; conservative.
Reply:liberal most support democratics
Reply:These people are stupid.





This is all you need to know. The media has a profit bias. Whatever profits them most and costs them least is what they're after. The only media "news" network with a bias is Fox, and they're not really news. They're cheerleaders for the GOP.





Jon Stewart put it best. Paraphrased, he said, the media bias is towards lazy and sensational, not right or left, liberal or conservative. Political bias isn't what people should be worried about when it comes to news.





Lack of hard facts, good reporting, and investigative reporting is the big media problem. It's much easier and cheaper to hire pundits who just give opinions. Get a left-wing guy for that crowd, get a right-wing guy for that crowd. None of that is journalism or hard news, though. It's editorializing. That's the real problem with news organizations. They want to get rich without really spending the time, effort, and money to do a good job at news-gathering.
Reply:It is split, the media is a business and reliant upon the funding provided by it's advertisers. They are going to cater to whatever special interest is providing them with the most money. It is a fairly even split between liberal and conservative bias.
Reply:you gotta be kidding
Reply:If you are a strong republican, you will always see the media as very liberal. If you're a strong liberal, you'll always see the media as very conservative. The ones of us who are pretty moderate tend to see both some conservative and some liberal leanings from the media.





It's funny, but that's just how we are.
Reply:you are not really serious about that question? liberal of course!
Reply:LIBERAL! The media likes to pretend that everything is perfect so they seem pleasant and like nice people. They think it makes good television/radio/etc. and that's what media is all about.
Reply:I think both exist in the media. It depends on what is popular and attracts the most listeners. They often run surveys to maybe to get the mood of their listeners????
Reply:Most news stations are in the middle or are a few steps on the liberal side. But then there is Fox News...in the heartland of Conservative Nation. Just watch the news and you'll see why people think what they think.
Reply:The realistic answer is it depends on which media source you read, watch or listen to. I am liberal. There are some I completely disagree with and some I agree with. Most people will answer from the perspective of their own bias here, but if you look around you will find media to fit all perspectives.





Personally I do not like either the liberal or conservative biased media outlets. I prefer one that covers stories from the middle. If I disagree with their point of view sometimes and agree sometimes I figure I have found a decent one.
Reply:When polled most newspeople (about 2/3 ) admit that they are liberals ( this isnt an opinion im stating about an actual poll ).


So its only logical that the media in general will havea liberal bias.
Reply:NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, CNBC, are all Democratic networks.





FOX is the only unbiased network.


Some will say FOX is the "Bush Network", but here is the issue. FOX puts both sides of a story or topic on the air and lets the viewer decide which side is right. The others there is only one side. That is why the truth of Iraq, Korea, Iran, the economy, attorney firings, Katrina, or anything else that these networks are jumping on is not being told.


Watch FOX and you will get the real whole story. Not what the networks want you to see.
Reply:the media is all strongly liberal.....liberals like to poke fun at fox news and say they are fanatical right wing biggots----but the truth is they too are liberal-----just not as far left as the other networks
Reply:way left. they don't even try to hide it anymore. don't give me fox news and limbaugh. they are lone outposts of conservatism. besides that, fox news gives both sides way more than any other network
Reply:It is a liberal bias.





Conservatives are constantly villified while liberals are given a free pass.
Reply:The News Media, except for FOX NEWS, has a very strong LIBERAL BIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!They slant the news in favor of one particular


Political party, namely, the democrat party.
Reply:Fox is conservative, the rest are extremely liberal. You can't trust either of them.
Reply:What come on Lefty everybody knows the Media is dominated by the Left!! You guys have been misinforming the world for years!!! That is why people in Europe think we are all nuts in America. Again you guys are just too funny Lefties if anything your good entertainment!!
Reply:The objective opinion is that the mainstream media has a slight liberal bias, but does, on the whole, at least TRY to be objective. Then there is FOX news, a right-wing mouthpiece for the ultra-right which unapologetically delivers highly biased and deceptive content...