Commentary: Why I Started a Media Fairness Caucus in Congress

"Information is the currency of democracy." -- attributed to Thomas Jefferson

Of the many complex issues our nation's founders debated, one subject they spent an immense amount of time discussing was freedom of the press. A free, fair and vibrant press lies at the heart of our nation's founding and the values we hold dear.

But a free press must be fully accountable to the citizens it serves because of its enormous influence, shaping the way the American people interpret the events happening around us. I believe the Founding Fathers would be troubled by some of the clear biases that exist in the national media today.

Recent surveys demonstrate that Americans have lost faith in the media.  Just one in ten Americans has a "great deal of confidence in the media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly," according to a Gallup poll. By a margin of three-to-one, Americans said the media are too liberal rather than too conservative.

That is why I started the Media Fairness Caucus (MFC) in Congress last year.  I believe this caucus can play a vital role in encouraging a free and unbiased press, as our founders intended.  We seek not to censor or condemn, but to urge the media to adhere to the highest standards of reporting and provide the American people with the facts, balanced stories and fair coverage of the news.

The mainstream media's treatment of President Obama provides an interesting case study. Journalists who gave to President Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign outnumbered those who contributed to Sen. McCain by 20-to-1.

And once the election was over, the slanted coverage continued.  The nonpartisan Center for Media and Public Affairs, comparing media coverage of Presidents Bush and Obama at the same point in their presidencies, found that 58 percent of all network news evaluations of Obama and his policies were favorable, while only 33 percent of assessments of Bush were favorable.

And though unemployment figures were relatively similar during the Reagan and Obama Administrations, the Business and Media Institute reported that 91 percent of the stories mentioning the Reagan Administration and unemployment were negative while only 7 percent of stories regarding the Obama Administration and unemployment were negative.

These examples illustrate the need for a renewed focus on fairness and balance in journalism, but there are countless others.

The media has been unabashedly biased in covering President Obama's so-called stimulus package, according to a recent analysis by the Business and Media Institute.

Since the President signed the stimulus into law over a year ago, ABC, CBS, and NBC have featured supporters of the legislation over those who oppose it by a margin of more than 2 to 1.  Furthermore, about half of all network news reports featured zero criticism of the stimulus package, according to BMI.

The Obama Administration claimed that the stimulus would keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent, when in reality unemployment kept rising and is now still hovering around 10 percent.

The emergence of the tea party movement provides another example of media bias. A recent Media Research Center report details how the tea party movement's demonstrated strength was met with little coverage by the mainstream media.

And once the media could no longer dismiss the movement, they sought to disparage it.  These Americans were portrayed as extremists and a radical fringe.   Forty four percent of network stories suggested the movement reflected a fringe or dangerous quality.

With coverage like that, it is no wonder that most Americans think today's mainstream media is to the left of their own views. A UCLA study rated 18 of 20 major news outlets as more liberal than the average American voter.

It is my hope that the MFC will encourage fairness and balance in reporting, while calling attention to biased coverage in a fair and reasonable way.  By bringing attention to media bias and promoting an open dialogue between members of the media and elected officials, we plan to remind the media of their profound obligation to provide the American people with the facts, and not tell them what to think.