Orson Scott Card on liberal media bias

What's worse? That there is one or that there is so much denial about it?

Published on August 9, 2004 By Draginol In Current Events

Currently on vacation up north at the lake but it's raining and I have my laptop with me with my cell phone.

Was doing some searching on the web and came across this article (below) about the liberal media bias. It's quite an interesting read.

Comments (Page 1)

cactoblasta

on Aug 09, 2004

He makes a good argument for liberal bias in the newspapers he has quoted, but I don't think he strengthens his case by comparing it to FoxNews, which allegedly:

presents all the facts and every viewpoint and leaves the decision up to the viewer.

Any reasonable person should be able to freely admit that the Murdoch press in general is heavily influenced by conservative ideology, mainly coming from Rupert himself.

greywar

on Aug 09, 2004

is heavily influenced by conservative ideology

if by heavily influenced you mean allowing a liberal and a conservative exactly equal time on a news program when discussing issues as opposed to a liberal and .... *crickets* in the conventional media then sure...

cactoblasta

on Aug 09, 2004

Mainly what I mean is that the Murdoch press has a remarkable tendency to have editorial consistency throughout the network on every major issue. For example during the before and early stages of the War on Iraq not a single editoral was published in any Murdoch publication opposing the War on Iraq. Perhaps he just has a knack for picking the same sort of editor every time, but I think this is more likely to be a result of editorial direction rather than an amazing example of several hundred of the liberal press spontaneously choosing to go against the tide.

Draginol

on Aug 09, 2004

What part of Foxnews do you think is conservative?

Madine

on Aug 09, 2004

For example during the before and early stages of the War on Iraq not a single editoral was published in any Murdoch publication opposing the War on Iraq.

Which isn't terribly surprising considering the overwhelming support it enjoyed.

cactoblasta

on Aug 10, 2004

What part of Foxnews do you think is conservative?

I could go for the cheap shot and say the "O'Reilly Factor", but frankly I haven't watched all that much of FoxNews in general, so my commentary on that network alone should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I have a fair amount of experience with the Murdoch press because they supply some of the largest Australian newspapers, and a part of my job involves reading many of them every day. This experience has led me to approach Murdoch news sources with a certain amount of suspicion and more scrupulous fact-checking - not as much as the "Green Worker's Left whatever", "al Jazeera" and "The Nationalist Weekly" of course, but more than Reuters, AP, AFP, the government and more reputable commercial free-to-air stations etc.

allowing a liberal and a conservative exactly equal time on a news program when discussing issues as opposed to a liberal and .... *crickets* in the conventional media then sure...

Personally I would consider even that to be evidence of bias, or at least a sign of the agenda-setting which so typifies the role of the modern media. There are more opinions than those belonging to stereotypical liberals and conservatives.

cactoblasta

on Aug 10, 2004

Which isn't terribly surprising considering the overwhelming support it enjoyed

Actually in Australia, where there a number of Murdoch-owned newspapers, disapproval for unilateral action was quite high - around 60-70% I think. This was higher of course in city and suburban areas, where the majority of Newscorp's work can be seen. One would expect editorials more reflective of popular opinion at the time of going to print.

eieio

on Aug 10, 2004

I'm still waiting to see a headline, in large bold print, reading "Kerry is not a War Hero!" ... with the usual 'according to sources' buried in the story.

Somehow I don't see this happening, even though these types of headlines are seen often when slanted toward the present administration.

Draginol

on Aug 10, 2004

You mean like the New York Times put a front page story about a "rumor" that Dick Cheney is going to get dropped from the ticket even though there was no evidence support that?

You can theorize about conservative bias but liberal bias is thrown in our faces in a very real way.

BTW, anyone who thinks O'Reilly is conservative either doesn't watch him or is so left wing that anyone who isn't far left must seem conservative. Conservatives don't consider O'Reilly conservative.

Madine

on Aug 10, 2004

It's funny when O'Reilly reads his email, and he reads one that calls him a liberal and another that calls him a conservative.

greywar

on Aug 10, 2004

to have editorial consistency

No one has a beef with editorial bias. The beef comes when they attempt to pass off editorial or opinion content as a news story. O'Reilly is an analyst with an opinion and Q&A show not the guy who heads you the news stories. Ask a conservative if O'Reilly is left or right and you will get a different response than you might expect in anycase.

Abe Cubbage

on Aug 10, 2004

No one has a beef with editorial bias.

Actually, the whole point of Card's article was his beef with editorial bias.

Editorial Bias = Media Bias

apdelong31

on Aug 10, 2004

I'm still waiting to see a headline, in large bold print, reading "Kerry is not a War Hero!"

Because it's a "liberal media"? I've yet to see a headline that says "Bush was wrong about Iraq" from the "liberal media".

Conservatives seem to expend a lot of energy in blaming the liberal media for anything they please. If Kerry is elected, the media will criticize Kerry's policy and actions the same way as they did Bush. Of course, I don't expect Kerry to foul up as much as George W. did/is. Anyway, all this liberal media talk is bullshit.

eieio

on Aug 10, 2004

I've yet to see a headline that says "Bush was wrong about Iraq" from the "liberal media".

Then you haven't been looking.

CBSNews.com had as it's headline "Bush Knew Iraq Info Was False" on July 10, 2003. This was only one of various 'Bush Lied' headlines after the State of the Union address with the infamous 16 words. The latest information about that info and even the stories themselves belied the headline.

In most all cases, these blatant headlines are followed with some type of clarification or recanting in the actual story, but the bold headline has the most effect upon a lot of readers.

The point being ... you don't see this type of false statement/opinion about the left to the degree that you do the current administration.

cactoblasta

on Aug 10, 2004

You mean like the New York Times put a front page story about a "rumor" that Dick Cheney is going to get dropped from the ticket even though there was no evidence support that?
You can theorize about conservative bias but liberal bias is thrown in our faces in a very real way.

I said in my first post that he makes a good case for liberal bias. From his article it is obvious that there is considerable bias towards the Democrats in many press sources in the US. I merely think that there are better examples of a fair and balanced media source than FoxNews.

The problem is though that my perception of balanced is of course dependent on my understanding of world and domestic affairs. I think the best a newspaper, TV station or internet news source can do to minimise accusations of bias is to make liberal use of the words "allege", "allegation" and their ilk when writing titles and articles. That was one of the best features of the London Times of years gone by. There's something undeniably reputable about a news source where only assertions that have been verified beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law are considered fact. For example CBS should have said "Critics allege Bush knew Iraq Info was false" whilst about 9/11subeditors might have put "Osama bin Laden alleged to be involved in WTC attack".

Of course that still allows for bias in the selection of news stories, but in my opinion it's an important step towards a more fair and balanced press.

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