Readers Respond to 'E&P' Report on Media Bias

By: E&P Staff Our August cover story, "The Bias Wars," has drawn, not surprisingly, a strong response from readers. Here's a representative sample.

Dave Sommers, Levittown, Pa.: "As a reporter at a mid-sized newspaper in New Jersey, I can say first hand that liberalism, the hard left pro-active type, permeates through most newsrooms -- the ones I've been in, anyway. I'm sure you understand that the bias is usually evident not in how things are covered, but what is covered in the first place. Many reporters are obsessed with finding (and believing sight unseen) cases of racism, sexism, etc. I guess the thing that shocks me the most is the fact that many if not most of these hard-left type reporters claim adamantly that they present the news in a fair, objective manner. As it is in most 12-step programs, admitting to a problem is the first step toward taking corrective action."

Terry Smith, editor, The Athens (Ohio) News: "I enjoyed your article on 'The Bias Wars' and the various accompanying articles and graphs. For the most part, your reporters did a good job of investigating the notion of liberal bias in American newsrooms. However, conspicuous by its absence was any significant mention of how media ownership dictates or influences coverage.

"Don't the folks who own the newspapers and radio stations sometimes influence the final journalistic product, either by dictate or budgetary pressure? Since most U.S. newspapers, radio and TV stations are owned by corporations, and most corporations are reliably conservative, this factor should be mentioned prominently in any analysis of media bias."

Leslie Boyd, staff writer, The Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times: "Yes, I'm a bleeding-heart liberal. But I can cover both sides of an issue fairly, no matter how much I disagree with the 'other' side. Every time I do an article on abortion, I get praise from both sides for my fairness. It doesn't matter how I feel, I have to portray both sides fairly. That's my job.

"My biggest beef with people who criticize the 'liberal bias is I keep reading how we don't go to church. I'd say at least half of my colleagues here are affiliated with a church and many go weekly. I sing in the choir and have taught middle-school Sunday school for 10 years. I find the implication that we're a bunch of godless heathens to be deeply offensive. Just because I don't believe Jesus would smile on our invasion of Iraq or on cutting services to the needy so the wealthy can have even more doesn't mean I'm immoral. This oft-repeated lie that reporters have no religious conviction needs to stop, and I'm disappointed that E&P continues to perpetuate it."

Howard Bixler, Toms River, N.J.: "It's comical how every liberal is so concerned about 'diversity,' except the most important diversity: diversity of thought, ideology and opinions. What absolute hypocrites! The 'old' mainstream media are losing viewers/readers by the millions. They had a monopoly since the 1960s, but no more! Thank God for Fox News, talk-radio and especially, the Internet. The genie is out of the bottle and it can't be returned!"

Douglas Barricklow, KLUV-FM, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas: "I don't think the number of conservatives or liberals in a given newsroom should matter. The problem is that too many reporters breathe their own exhaust. That is, conservatives are getting their news from conservative sources; and liberals are getting their news from liberal sources. They also tend to socialize in circles of like-minded individuals. Because of this, neither conservative writers nor liberal writers understand (or are even aware of) the many reasons their political counterparts feel a certain way about an issue.

"I don't think newspaper pros are helpless against this problem. In fact, I think it's a rampant lack of professionalism that has provided fuel for its growth. How many reporters read the Weekly Standard AND Mother Jones? How many reporters check CommonDreams.org, AndrewSullivan.com and WorldNetDaily.net from time to time? Probably not many. Yet they've chosen a profession that requires this sort of committed research. If newspapers are going to attempt to write objective copy that appeals to as many people as possible across the American political landscape, then it's time to expect more from themselves. They need to understand how other political animals think."

Mark A. York, Sunland, Calif.: "While I agree with Jay Rosen that a reporter's political affiliation shouldn't detract from their reporting paradigm, this doesn't exist in the conspiratorial nature of blogs. These vanity press pseudo-journalists revel in journalist bashing, all the while having no credentials themselves. Nice work if you can get it. But the salary is free. Often, but not always, this is what it's worth. I say let the most reasoned stance prevail. Unlike in the imaginary world of the blogosphere, in the real world it will."

John Orr, Los Angeles: "Regrettably, the special report focuses on newspapers, and not television and cable news outlets. By far, more Americans receive their news from sources such as Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. The right-leaning biases there can and are documented by analysis of the stories they cover and do not cover, the distortion of facts, and the general widespread use of Republican 'talking points' in conveying stories, as opposed to hard-hitting journalism. "