Overview - Neoconservative Media

And of course—no section dedicated to Science or the Environment.

One story covered a misdemeanor vandalism incident perpetrated by a few environmental extremists at a private home somewhere in the Midwest. Other than that, not one article even mentioned any environmental or scientific issue other than personal health. By volume of content, the Opinion and talk show related sections were the largest at the site.

And at the bottom of the page there was a label stating "Fair & Balanced"—with a Trademark symbol after it.

Fox stands behind their "Fair & Balanced" slogan and stridently denies any bias in either their reporting or programming, even to the point of claiming it as a trademark and filing suit against those who use it (which they have in fact done)—as though they are entitled to this distinction despite the almost complete lack of scholarship and professionalism just described.

The 'Liberal Media' Claim

One of the most frequent, and strident, complaints of conservatives is that there is a pervasive "liberal bias" in the media. Nearly every best-selling conservative author today devotes at least one full chapter to this claim. A few have concentrated on it exclusively. It has also fueled the popularity of conservative media outlets such as Fox News and talk shows like those of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In fact, according to Nielson ratings, Fox is now America's most watched cable news channel even though they actually have considerably fewer viewers than CNN (see the article on Fox's ratings linked elsewhere on this page). This is due largely to the fact that Fox viewers tend to watch for hours at a time whereas CNN viewers watch just long enough to get headlines and a few details. CNN viewers are also more likely to depend on a wide range of news sources of which CNN is only one.

Fox devotees however, tend to watch for hours at a time and are more likely to depend exclusively on Fox (or at most one or two other similar sources) for their information. This single minded devotion and lack of diversity in sources, which is almost a trademark of Fox viewers, is a direct result of the perception that virtually every other large news outlet in the U.S. (and even the world) is polluted with "liberal bias". Not surprisingly, of the many friends and family members I have spoken with who are Fox News watchers, virtually all have indicated to me that their preference for Fox is because they are "sick of the liberal media"—not a single one has ever told me that they prefer Fox because they have investigated any part of their reporting independently and found them to be a more reliable source of information.

Any widespread bias in the media, if it could be verified, would be a serious matter and the question should not be dismissed. But the nature of the claim is an easy one to investigate, and studies have been done to address the question. This page links a study by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) presenting the results of an extensive study done by sociologists at the Evaluation Research Laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University. The project was based on a 24-question self-administered survey that was sent by mail to Washington-based journalists (n = 444). The initial mailing was followed later by a reminder postcard and a second copy of the questionnaire was sent to non-respondents. Finally, reminder phone calls were placed to remaining non-respondents and replacement surveys were mailed as requested. Data was gathered from late February through April of 1998.

The results demonstrated that when viewed in the aggregate, there is little if any slanting of journalists toward left leaning views throughout all of the larger media outlets in the U.S. There is a tendency for journalists to have views that lean somewhat left on one or two issues (such as the environment for instance). But in most cases, the views of journalists and other media representatives are moderate, and if anything, lean slightly right of center on most economic and social policy issues. The study included Fox News and the Washington Times as well—both far-right media outlets. This study speaks directly to the claims of "liberal bias" in the media and demonstrates that such claims have little factual support.

So why this widespread belief in "liberal bias"? It is likely that the belief spreads at least in part through conservative commentators, writers, and talk show hosts who promote the idea vociferously and defend it with isolated extreme examples (few of which are well researched and presented in context). Many on the left use similar reasoning to accuse the media of being Right biased by pointing to forums like the Washington Times, Fox News, or World (an extreme Religious Right news magazine with ties to Bob Jones University. While such forums do exist and are quite vocal and extreme in their reporting, they can hardly be considered as representative of the media in general any more than extreme Left leaning forums can. Now this is selective reporting!