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03-16-2007, 12:50 AM
I POST THIS AS A CONSERVATIVE VETERAN

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262

Zogby Poll: Vast Majority Believe Media Is Biased

Call it confirming the obvious, but a poll released today by the Zogby organization, conducted in conjunction with the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, reveals that a vast majority of Americans believe that the media is biased. 83% of likely voters said the media is biased in one direction or another, while just 11% believe the media doesn’t take political sides.

Of particular significance: "nearly two-thirds of those online respondents who detected bias in the media (64%) said the media leans left, while slightly more than a quarter of respondents (28%) said they see a conservative bias."

Other findings of interest:

While 97% of Republicans surveyed said the media are liberal, two-thirds of political independents feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a conservative bias. Democrats, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the media was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a left-wing media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed right – and 17% said the bias favored the left.

As the influence of blogs has risen, mainstream news organizations have attempted to get in on the action by creating their own blogs to counter those run by private citizens and those not in the news business. But American voters remain skeptical of major news outlets diving in to the blog pool – 26% speculated that the reason news organizations are placing blogs on their Web sites is that “blogs give news organizations a chance to promote a political agenda they could not promote in their regular broadcasts, cablecasts, or publications.”

specialk
03-16-2007, 01:51 AM
:twisted: :P

insert_namehere
03-16-2007, 02:10 AM
Hello? Assuming that journalism is completely objective would be akin to assuming that the average American voter actually studies issues and votes based on platforms rather than dogma and personal economics. Of course, since the article refers to "the media" as opposed to actual mere reportage, you can lump in talk radio, "news as entertainment", etc. The primary Who, What, When, Where and How standard went out somewhere before Horace Greeley grew sideburns - that's why it's sort of important to read or watch or whatever a diversity of news outlets.

Assuming that "the Web 2.0" is a better source for news nuggets however, is patently absurd. That's right up there with the assumption that the Wikipedia is the definitive reference resource.

Still, if one prefers to operate without independent thought and prefers to parrot whatever sounds good, there's some damned clever blogs out there.

03-16-2007, 02:25 AM
That's a rush to characterization if I ever saw one.

There's a big difference between "completely objective journalism" and CNN's stealth-liberal bias.

insert_namehere
03-16-2007, 02:31 AM
That's a rush to characterization if I ever saw one.

There's a big difference between "completely objective journalism" and CNN's stealth-liberal bias.

As opposed the dry, clear-eyed and blandly objective viewpoints of Matt Drudge or Bill O'Reilly?

03-16-2007, 02:32 AM
That's a rush to characterization if I ever saw one.

There's a big difference between "completely objective journalism" and CNN's stealth-liberal bias.

As opposed the dry, clear-eyed and blandly objective viewpoints of Matt Drudge or Bill O'Reilly?

The vast majority of America disagrees with you.

insert_namehere
03-16-2007, 02:36 AM
As opposed the dry, clear-eyed and blandly objective viewpoints of Matt Drudge or Bill O'Reilly?

The vast majority of America disagrees with you.

Well, the vast majority of America probably disagrees with me on a lot of things.

So, basically, if it's popular, it's correct?

03-16-2007, 02:41 AM
As opposed the dry, clear-eyed and blandly objective viewpoints of Matt Drudge or Bill O'Reilly?

The vast majority of America disagrees with you.

Well, the vast majority of America probably disagrees with me on a lot of things.

So, basically, if it's popular, it's correct?

Geez, I'm calling guiness. There MUST be a record for "Quickest Multiple Jumps to Strawman Conclusions"

insert_namehere
03-16-2007, 02:55 AM
Geez, I'm calling guiness. There MUST be a record for "Quickest Multiple Jumps to Strawman Conclusions"

I’m missing something here. Your posted article states that most Americans perceive “the Media” as being biased.

I’m sure most Americans perceive the sky as being above the earth too.

If you’re trying to get people to say… “Oh, American journalism is controlled by the left”, that’s a different discussion and one that WOULD set up a strawman.

Is traditional media liberal in it’s outlook – on some issues, I’d venture to say the aggregate probably is. On others, especially when you look at local and regional outlets, they tend to be conservative, especially on government fiscal responsibility.

This will quickly devolve into the old “four blind men trying to describe an elephant” unless you just state what you feel this poll reveals to you. Then we might have a basis for discussion.

guyone
03-16-2007, 05:04 AM
The media is certainly biased one way or the other. Imagine if you only had 500 to 1000 channels of CSPAN? Don't get me wrong CSPAN is a very accurate news outlet as it just plops the camera down where news is made without any commentary, but their anchors are very robotic.

corbomite
03-17-2007, 06:27 AM
i dont think the press has ever been fair ever since there was a press