By Lorie Byrd on 3.17.05 @ 12:04AM
How to tell if the mainstream media is no longer biased.
With Dan Rather's departure from the CBS Evening News last week,
there has been a lot of debate about whether or not there is a
liberal bias in the mainstream media -- as if that were a debatable
point. Some pundits and journalists argue that even if a liberal
bias existed in the past, that those days ended with the rise of
talk radio, Fox News and the blogs.
While I am ready to concede that these new media outlets are
helping to bring balance to the presentation of news, I hold that
the mainstream media still has an unmistakable liberal bias. For
those following this transformation, I have come up with a few
telltale signs that will signal the mainstream media has achieved a
"fair and balanced" presentation of the news.
You will know the mainstream media is no longer biased...
...when the average American knows as much about what Sandy
Berger stuffed into his pants, as they know about what Bill Clinton
pulled out of his.
...when whistleblowers Linda Tripp and Manuel Miranda are
treated by the media in a manner comparable to the way Richard
Clarke, Paul O'Neill and Joe Wilson were treated. (Don't know who
Manuel Miranda is? Read on.)
...when the media reports the story of Senate Democrat Judiciary
Committee memos as a story about elected officials admitting that
they were against the nomination of Miguel Estrada because, among
other things, "he is Latino," rather than as the story of a Senate
staffer, Manuel Miranda improperly accessing documents the
Democrats did not intend for public consumption.
...when every conservative judicial nominee is no longer
referred to as "extreme" or "controversial" simply because they are
opposed by the Democrats.
...when liberal pundits are labeled "liberal" on the television
screen as consistently as Ann Coulter and other conservative
pundits are labeled "conservative."
...when phrases like "big union," "big abortion," and "big trial
lawyers" are as common as "big oil" and "big tobacco" in news
stories.
...when there is as much of a rush to be the first to break the
story of who forged the Bush National Guard memos as there was to
run the pre-election report based on the fake documents.
I came up with that baker's half dozen without even addressing
the way the mainstream media reports on the war, taxes or a myriad
of other subjects. Until I start seeing changes like the ones
listed above, I will not be convinced that liberal bias in the
mainstream media has gone the way of the rotary phone.
topics:
Taxes, Bill Clinton, Mainstream Media, Television, Abortion, Law, Iran, Oil
