Eagle columnist Brent Castillo wrote today about a study that found that the media has been more favorable in their news coverage of the Democratic presidential candidates than the Republicans. Conservatives are touting it as more evidence of liberal bias. That likely may be, but it may also partly reflect news that was happening at the time. For example, the study noted how much negative coverage Republican John McCain received. But the study examine a time period during which his campaign was falling apart.
The study focused on news coverage, which is expected to be neutral, not opinion and commentary, which aren’t supposed to be neutral. But that format may lean more to the left soon.
MSNBC is planning a shift to a left in its evening talk shows, driven by ratings. “Countdown With Keith Olbermann†(in photo) has been such a success that the cable network plans to showcase other hosts who take on the administration, the New York Times reported. One horrifying possibility: Network execs have been talking with Rosie O’Donnell about a prime-time show, though those talks have stalled.
Just as Fox News has made hay with conservative talk shows, MSNBC is realizing there is a big market for opposing views.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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66 Comments
Could it be that the truth reflects negaitve bias toward conservatives? Hmmm….
Rosie is irresponsible.
Rosie says that “9-11 was an ‘inside job”
That isnt just liberal.
That is NUTS!
She should be ashamed of herself.
A Rosie show will bomb out in prime time.
When I read Values Boys column today I wondered why he is unable to see that the news reflects the way most think rather than being slanted. And on that negative “spin” about Republicans? Maybe it is too difficult to find anything positive and so much easier to find the negatives. Maybe journalists just don’t want to dig that deep so they write about the ten negatives that exist among the occasional positive.
Well, that study is flawed.
Look at the questions that Russert asked the Dems vs. the questions moderators asked the Repubes.
Russert and the talking heads “frame” the Dems as soft on terror and flip-floppers by asking them to deny it.
Here’s the best thing I’ve read about how national politics is covered in years:
What is the state of the mainstream press corps? In the aftermath of the first Bush-Gore debate, Margaret Carlson painted a stunning portrait of an uncaring, millionaire press corps. Why were pundits stressing minor factual errors by Gore and ignoring massive policy blunders by Bush? Appearing on Imus, Carlson revealed the soul of the corps, and no, we’re not making this up:
CARLSON (10/10/00): Gore’s fabrications may be inconsequential—I mean, they’re about his life. Bush’s fabrications are about OUR life, and what he’s going to do. Bush’s should matter more but they don’t, because Gore’s we can disprove right here and now . . . You can actually disprove some of what Bush is saying if you really get in the weeds and get out your calculator or you look at his record in Texas. But it’s really easy, and it’s fun, to disprove Gore.
Those emphases were strictly by Carlson. It’s “fun” to disprove Gore’s errors, she said—and it’s “easier” than trying to work with Bush’s more significant blunders. Carlson took her troubling presentation through one more weird iteration:
CARLSON: I actually happen to know people who need government and so they would care more about the programs, and less about the things we kind of make fun of . . . But as sport, and as our enterprise, Gore coming up with another whopper is greatly entertaining to us. And we can disprove it in a way we can’t disprove these other things.
To Carlson, talking about that school desk in Florida was a form of “entertainment” and “sport.” Though she even knows people who need those programs (Medicare; Social Security), she and her cohort quite plainly do not. In their treatment of Bush-Gore, they went after what was fun, easy, sport and entertainment.
Incredibly, Carlson actually said those things. And that explains why Blankley’s deception has now lasted ten full years. It also explains why American citizens have no idea that they’ve been so deceived.
Carlson, of course, is still drawing big checks. That explains why she doesn’t need those boring government programs—and it helps explain why her well-heeled cohort doesn’t want Scaife crashing down on their heads. Scaife is the heaviest wave in the world. Why spoil all the “fun” with a wipe-out?
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh082302.shtml
Is the Kansas sports media biased against K-State? It must be; I see a lot more negative articles about KSU football than I do about KU football.
I don’t believe that 9-11 was an inside job, but neither do I believe the 9-11 whitewash.
BushCo was wholly negligent in preparing against an Al Qaeda threat. They were part of the group that accused Clinton of “wagging the dog” of war when he bombed training camps in Afghanistan and chemical weapons plants in the Sudan.
And before Hank comes on and says it’s just an “asprin factory,” remember that VX nerve agent was found in the soil samples that the CIA tested.
Unlike Bush’s war against WMD’s in Iraq, there was empirical evidence that Sudan was cooking them up.
BushCo. did nothing while Al Qaeda schemed because Al Qaeda’s was “Clinton’s thing,” not theirs.
Heheheh, good one, Ben!
For example, the press had the audacity to point out that KU football pounded KSU this year.
The mainstream media has a liberal bias AND the mainstream media has a lower approval rating than the Democrat-ran congress, which in turn has a lower approval rating than President Bush. It seems the more corrupt the group is, the lower the approval rating.
Mostly news media isn’t “liberal” or “conservative” its tabloid and celebrity driven. 24hr 3 month long coverage of Anna Nicole croaking, Britney being bad mom, missing blond in Aruba. Nay many of the so called political shows spend more time on fluff than politics and real news. John Edwards hair, Clinton’s pant suits, Obama’s race, Fred Thompson’s acting career and how it affects L&O, Rudy wives get more coverage than their views.
ID – the Congress polls are split. Overall Congress is rated low; however the Dems in Congress are rated higher. The problem with Congress right now is that Republicans can block things.
Hooray for MSNBC!
Heh heh, Olberman is kicking Billo’s tail. ‘Bout time someone let the air quickly out of O’reilly.
The difficulty in interpreting media or any bias in it is a flaw in conservative thinking.
Conservatives see black/white up/down here/there me/you.
They’ve no concept for them of inbetween. SO any media that is not CLEARLY conservative is automatically liberally biased by definition. It is either coservative or it is not.
This is THEIR problem. It is not an issue for those with a wider mind.
I have to agree with Tom Paine, it dosen’t matter if the media station is liberal or conservative, all they do is pump out sensationlized crap thats not even worthy of news.
“Just as Fox News has made hay with conservative talk shows, MSNBC is realizing there is a big market for opposing views.”
Took ‘em a while to figure that out did it?
The reason, I suspect, is that they know that they are liberal to begin with and any further moves left will make them sound like Air America. And they know how AA appeals to most Americans.
MSNBC unwittingly dodged a bullet when it failed to reach a deal with Rosie.
Here, I will flip on all the major news channels, cnn, msnbc, fox, and I will report on the next few minutes, what stories they are covering. If its real news, then I’ll bite the bullet on this one and say I’m wrong. Ok. brb in a few
O.K. they are all covering O.J. simpsons trial, which is not news, its crap. Who gives a F’ about O.J.
CNN is the only station covering world issues, at this moment.
Lou dobbs must be on then? BTW is a populist not a lib or a con
Sorry to burst your bubble there, Elephant..but right now CNN is airing the OJ hearing..live. Big yawn…
Bias in the media?
No way!
Well okay, yes there is.
Rosie ODonell! oh my gosh! Funny, but spiteful!
Go ahead! Put Rosie in charge (sigh). Just add another channel I can block at home and contribute to the decline in television viewing overall.
Good point WE. How much time have they wasted on Britney etc etc etc?
Are you guys seriously posting this two days after Rosie announced that the talks fell through and she will definitely not be joining MSNBC as a contributor?
Should we chalk it up to shoddy research, or is someone jumping on a fake story because it confirms their preconceived notions and political bias?
So? Most Americans (73%) have seen enough of what the right wing has to offer, and are now looking at the left, so that’s what the media reports. Media (with a few exceptions) isn’t politically biased, it’s biased toward selling it’s service; they go where the readers want.
“Lest there be any doubt that the cable channel believes there is ratings gold in shows that criticize the administration with the same vigor with which Fox News’s hosts often champion it, two NBC executives acknowledged yesterday that they were talking to Rosie O’Donnell about a prime-time show on MSNBC.”
So, all they are really saying is that MSNBC may respond to the Right-wing FOX by going the other way. Hardly an indictment of the “Liberal media” so much as a recognition of the “Right-wing media” that exists today.
This is important? Fox hired Dennis Miller, I don’t hear any crap about that. This is unimportant, anyone with a brain knows MSM is comprimised, with stories that should be front page getting buried while they continue to distract Americans with Paris,Britney, O.J., whatever.The Hollywood writers are on strike and I can’t think of a better thing for this country, as the shows that distract and manipulate are forced into reruns maybe these Americans will put down the remote and begin reading and formulating their own opinions.
You realize that tv is just a brain washing device, don’t you? Not that being in a self-induced stupor late in the evening is bad, just saying…most folks spend waayy too much time in front of the tube. Me included.
Maybe Rosie can do a ‘reality’ show.
This could be an interesting story if Rosie was actually going to have a show on NBC. Problem is she isn’t so there’s no story.
Listening to conservatives you’d think that if a station has one liberal (Olbermann) on the air that makes it a liberal network. Conservatives have never had a good grasp on reality. MSNBC is owned by GE, that makes nukes. Such liberal corporations and their nuclear stockpiles.
You can actually read Values Boy all the way through without puking?
Wow! I’m impressed.
Idiots!! If they put Rosie on prime time as a voice for the left, I’m going to become a radical right in protest. Don’t know how that works, will have to talk to my dad about that.
Doug – the other thing they often do is say “The New York Times claims that … ” when in fact it is simply a columnist writing it and the NYT providing a forum.
But wait, Doug. Fox has Colmes and Totenberg (NPR), and yet you call FOX rightwing. SUP, brother?
Hypocrite you are…hmmmm…in my best Yoda voice.
For conservatives, don’t be fooled by JR, Doug and their lefty loon club. They follow the “don’t confuse me with facts” mentality. There are tons of leftwingnut websites that post misleading titles just to get ranked on top of the search engines so unsuspecting fact-finders think that the info is factual. Go to the source and follow the money.
Rosie is out.”CBS News on Logo” will air instead, with a half-hour of sodomite news from the sodomite channel LOGO.
The mainstream media has a liberal bias AND the mainstream media has a lower approval rating than the Democrat-ran congress, which in turn has a lower approval rating than President Bush.
Would the mainstream media be including Fox News, ID??
If you say “Door King” fast —
it sounds like:”Dorking”
A “dork” is part of the whale anotomy.
Actually, only the male whale anotomy.
What does it mean when you turn that noun into a verb?
If you think Alan Colmes represents liberal thought in America, you have a serious kool aid problem. Colmes’ job is to serve as a weenie foil to Hannity, so Hannity’s fans can have someone to feel superior to.
I’d like to see Hannity debate Olberman. Without all the shouting, interruptions, and peurile insults you see on Fox News.
Rosie does not represent news media. A mouth and an opinion don’t make her a member of the press. She represents only Rosie, thank God.
Uh, NO, Door King. MSM pukes wouldn’t know the truth if it hit them in the face. Just as the present day Democrats are far left of John Kennedy, present day MSM is far left of Edward R. Murrow. At least Murrow (and Fox) report the truth w/o promoting an agenda. Murrow must be turning over in his grave to see today’s MSM promote biased over facts.
FOX reporting the truth without an agenda?
JeezLouise, how can you say that with a straight face?
And FOX is NOT biased?
“Bush down in polls.”MSNBC
“BUSH UP IN POLLS!!”Fox News
The Weblog must be biased because Dems. rule the threads!
Liberal is fine….but that is not what Rosie is…
She is just plane crazier than a shit-house rat.
And apparently believes her own crap.
Seeming sort of like Olberman.
But I just heard she lost the show due to her big mouth telling everyone. The network finally came up for air and found out what the public was saying and tossed her under a bus (a big one)
I did not realized just controlled the MSM was by the right till I watched the British documentary “The power of nightmares” on youtube. Its about the raise of both the Neoconservatives movement and radical Islam. It amazed me that here they had the main players in the Neocons, on camera saying exactly what they think. “It is the personal freedoms (our Constitutional rights) of the American people that has lead to the decline of the society. By having a common enemy, real or imaginary it will give the masses focus and save the society.”. And the like plainly and without shame outlining their motivation for the changes they have done within the United States. Yet not a word here? You would think if the MSM was so liberal they would being running this 24/7. There would be exposés nightly, it is damning of the Neoconservatives, Cheney, Bush, almost the entire Bush administration. Yet even when a foreign news service can get this much, where is our own? Oh yeah, bright shining objects, Paris, Brittany, O. J. and the like! Oh well who are we, just the “unwashed masses”.
But thank God there is Fox, I switched over to them just in time to see them gearing up to defeat Clinton in the Presidential election! Of course it was BILL CLINTON, did you know he is a sex addict? Really, this is news! OK it was news back oh like IN THE NINETIES! But hey if you can not beat the current candidates then beat the one you can….
Here’s an example of the liberal media in action, excerpt from Wilkipedia: “In 2002, Phil Donahue returned to television to host a show called Donahue on MSNBC. Its debut ratings were strong, but its audience evaporated over the following months. In late August 2002, it got one of the lowest possible Nielsen ratings (0.1), less than MSNBC’s average for the day of 0.2. On February 25, 2003, MSNBC cancelled the show, citing low viewership. Despite the reasons given by MSNBC, AllYourTV.com reported it had received a copy of an internal NBC memo that mentioned that Donahue had to be fired because he would be a “difficult public face for NBC in a time of war”[1][2]“
“Fox hired Dennis Miller, I don’t hear any crap about that.”
Miller was a lot funnier when he was an independent knocking both parties —- he let success go to his head, and as his ego got bigger so did his slipping over to the dark side – and slipping ratings — well at least the O’Relly folks keep him fat dumber and happy
too bad people are scared of the truth and have to resort to name calling.
its the right wing repuke way. to hide the truth resort ot name calling
Why is everyone always bagging on Rosie? Geez.
The problem with Dennis Miller is he decided he would hitch his star to the Iraq war. As things got worse he got more partisan. Now his whole act is insulting the “lefties” as he sees them. Or rather, as he imagines them.
LC
good observation — he forgets it was the lefties that made him popular / rich — what it tells me he has gotten fat and lazy —- doesn’t do thought provoking / message comedy like he used to
Dennis Miller was funny on SNL. Now he just has extremely wordy, and not at all funny, right wing comments.
I swear I fall asleep by the time he gets to the end of a sentence.
Just another sad commentary on the wannabee YouTube mentality in American journalism. Opinion editors want to make comedic videos and comedians like Rosie want their opinions be taken seriously by posing as news analysts. Too bad no one is happy doing their own job. Maybe it’s too hard to write intelligent newspaper editorials.
Too bad Dan Rather couldn’t have kept his opinions to himself and stuck with just reporting the news and Larry King did not have to stage news events. We probably would have never heard of Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly
Bill McKean
I am sure FOX News will find some crack pot neo con to balance Rosie. Oh wait! They already have! About 5 of them!
I’m so sick of not having any real news on TV anymore. All I want is information, not opinions or spin toward in one direction or the other. I like to make up my own mind about issues, I don’t want some talking head telling me what to think. The media machine is nothing but irresponsible, sensational, and biased.
FOX Attacks Decency… with Bill O’Reilly Leading the Way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whYi8sCF5Pg&v3
How long has this form of entertainment been going on? Where a rep. from the left and a rep. from the right attacking each other with the host jumping in, taking sides, and cutting off one opponent (usually the rep. from the left).For me, it has gotten old, and seems like they’ve been doing it forever. I think it started during GWB’s reign, or at least become an art form.
It may very well be that MSM is leaning a little farther to the left than it was in the early years of this administration. Prior to Katrina, all we heard was how great GW Bush was and how everything he did was so wonderful. Then Katrina hit Nola, and “news” changed. Is it now “liberal”? To those on the right, it is. But the question we should be asking is if it’s more factual.
The news is Liberal in a selective way. What I mean is that just look at the success in Iraq. Before, when it was nastier, news reporters by the thousands would be there reporting on the nightly news. Now there is some success, hardly a moment gets mentioned until someone dies or gets blown up!
Face it, news like disaster and mayhem. Not sure if that is Liberal or not, but is sure is negative! I like good news, report it more often!
Rosie is irrevelant. Just ignore her and she will go away.
The only reason why the media is leaning more left is because it’s reporting the horrible stuff coming from republicans.
Truth hurts righties.
As Steven Colbert says “the truth has a liberal bias”.
Look at the success in Iraq? Seriously? No, really?
2 million refugees out of a population of 23 million. If that’s success, what does failure look like?
leftcoast, I can find a negative in everything.. that isn’t hard.. post anything and somone will find a negative to go along with it.. but lets look at yesterday.. Bushes first Veto override, the news reported it as a loss. and it was.. but everybody knew it would be overriden. Bush did it because he seen allot of waste in he just wanted to make a political point. The Media new this would get overriden from the start but only showed you the Congress pulled something over on the President. instead of telling everybody why Bush didn’t want the bill to pass without trimming the cost down.
I see papa bush has come out defending his poor misunderstood son, again.
More soldiers killed by last month, already greater than any previous year since 2003, I guess that’s what Repubs. will call progress. Why do they hate the troops so much?
You should address me as Mr President. Phantom
all you have to do is look at phillip and it’s clear which way the media is tilting.
studies have shown that over 60% of the MSM is right leaning.
so, with about 30% that doesn’t have the slightest clue as to wtf is going on, the difference doesn’t leave much to label liberal.