That damn conservative media

Ah, the power of marketing.  With the right kind of money and influence, folks can be convinced of damn near anything.  Margarine is better for you than butter.   That super chamois Billy Mays advertises on TV can soak up a gallon of milk.  And the media is liberal.

I've written about the myth of the liberal media here a couple times.  I presented data and charts and have demonstrated a corporate media liberal bias is,indeed, a myth.  Invariably, I get a bunch of comments that "everyone knows" the media is liberal.  No data of course.  No facts to back up the assertion of this big conspiratorial liberal media.  And I'm a knucklehead for thinking otherwise. 

Ahem....

A visual analysis of television presidential campaign coverage from 1992 to 2004 suggests that the three television broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC -- favored Republicans in each election, according to two Indiana University professors in a new book.

Maria Elizabeth Grabe and Erik Bucy, both associate professors in the Department of Telecommunications of IU's College of Arts and Sciences, report their findings in their book, Image Bite Politics: News and the Visual Framing of Elections (Oxford University Press).

"We don't think this is journalists conspiring to favor Republicans. We think they're just so beat up and tired of being accused of a liberal bias that they unknowingly give Republicans the benefit in coverage," said (professor Maria Elizabeth) Grabe, who also is a research associate in political science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. "It's self-censorship that journalists might be imposing on themselves."

They examined 62 hours of broadcast network news coverage -- a total of 178 newscasts -- between Labor Day and Election Day over four U.S. presidential elections between 1992 and 2004. Cable news outlets, including CNN and Fox News, were not included in their research. The professors are now looking at 2008 election coverage.  (Link)

You gotta hand it to the folks that whine about the liberal media.  They do it often enough...and loudly enough....and with enough bravado and righteous indignation that they've convinced lots of folks that there's this anti-democratic progressive media out there just laboring away at turning our brains to a liberal, pudding like consistency. 

Ever hear of a product called "Nitro All Natural Night Time Fat Burner".  It's amazing.  You take the recommended dose and you actually burn fat as you sleep.  No kidding.  Isn't that the greatest thing ever?

Comments

[Robert]

Liberal academia reviewing liberal media and, amazingly enough, finding no bias. I guess that puts that to rest. Nice try. The Silent Majority

[Jay McDonough]

Provide some evidence. Without it, yours is uninformed opinion.