Liberal Media Attempting to Understand Conservatives

[russ_watters]

This is an interesting/entertaining op-ed about how the media attempts to deal with its bias. The tone of the writing of this op-ed is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but what is interesting is how frankly the bias is acknowledged by the NYT in their comment on their attempts to deal with it:

In 2004, the Times assigned a reporter to cover conservatives full-time in order to better inform their readers and staff how the conservative movement works.

"We wanted to understand them," explained editor Bill Keller. The Times' ombudsman later observed that the "decision not to create a liberal beat, it seems to me, reflected the reality that the Times' coverage of liberals had no gaps similar to those in its reporting on the conservative movement." Translation: The Times is staffed almost entirely by liberals and their news judgment flows directly from that fact.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-07-06-column06_ST_N.htm

They treated it as trivially self-evident: they don't need someone to cover a 'liberal beat' because they are already covering it as their primary focus.

Apparently, having someone assigned to cover the "conservative beat" is not unusual, as the main subject of the article is a "conservative beat" reporter for another paper who was relieved of his post due to inflammatory anti-conservative comments. Sounds like the "conservative beat" isn't a post reporters take to with much enthusiasm.

And the discrepancy sometimes comes through in the reporting:

Many mainstream news outlets have been caught flat-footed on some major stories in recent years precisely because of this attitude.

For instance, Van Jones, the White House "green jobs czar," was brought down by controversies that went ignored by most leading news outlets but were widely covered by (the hugely successful) Fox News and the thriving conservative press. It seems at times that if conservatives consider something big news, the editors at such places as the Times and the Post must first conduct an anthropological analysis: Why are these right-wing natives so upset?

A responsible reporter must also examine the corollary of such an issue: why aren't 'left-wing natives upset'? That's key to understanding why they missed the story in the first place and for trying to prevent it from happening in the future. The answer is obvious, but probably not comfortable for a liberal press outlet to think about: they missed the story because they are so biased that left-wing crackpottery by a democratic politician didn't raise a red flag for them. Uncomfortable or not, it is something they must think about if they are sincere in their effort to provide balanced coverage. Having someone on the "conservative beat" only gets them halfway.

 

[Cyrus]

Liberal Bias: Olberman and Matthews.

I rest my case.

 

[DavidSnider]

Most 'conservative beat' stories are crackpot non-sense: FEMA Camps, The 'War on Christmas', government taking your guns, affirmative action taking your job, welfare queens wasting your taxes, gays making the military ineffective, religious apologetics.

There is soooo much right wing crack pottery that the few liberal examples they find get lost in the mix.

 

[Gokul43201]

Liberal Bias: Olberman and Matthews.

I rest my case.

What case is that? It's not very obvious what your point is or how it relates to the OP.

 

[Cyrus]

What case is that? It's not very obvious what your point is or how it relates to the OP.

Re-2IB6llYw[/youtube] :biggrin: Listen to Matthews argument.

 

[Gokul43201]

I listened to it. And it's rubbish (IMO). But I still fail to see the exact point you are making. However, in the interest of not deviating any further from the case made in the OP, I'd rather leave things as they stand than probe any further.

 

[Cyrus]

See Russ' citation:

It seems at times that if conservatives consider something big news, the editors at such places as the Times and the Post must first conduct an anthropological analysis: Why are these right-wing natives so upset?

and then watch Matthews argument. Does he do that? No. He starts talking about the costs of war with Iraq. His bias is to the point of obnoxious!

Scarborough is 'that guy' in the article.

 

[russ_watters]

Most 'conservative beat' stories are crackpot non-sense: FEMA Camps, The 'War on Christmas', government taking your guns, affirmative action taking your job, welfare queens wasting your taxes, gays making the military ineffective, religious apologetics.

There is soooo much right wing crack pottery that the few liberal examples they find get lost in the mix.

Perhaps you have that backwards: if the conservative beat reporters see their job as being to look for conservative crackpottery and highlight it (rather than to even-handedly report and analyze conservative positions), while the rest of the reporters ignore liberal crackpottery (example given above), it makes it look like there is a lot more conservative than liberal crackpottery.

The media is so liberal it treats crackpot liberal positions/stories as if they are mainstream.

 

[Jack21222]

The media is so liberal it treats crackpot liberal positions/stories as if they are mainstream.

Can you give an example of a "crackpot liberal position" that's taken as mainstream? Examples have already been provided of crackpot conservative positions being taken as mainstream by Fox.

 

[arildno]

Can you give an example of a "crackpot liberal position" that's taken as mainstream? Examples have already been provided of crackpot conservative positions being taken as mainstream by Fox.

Well, what about speculations that a certain Times Square would-be-bomber became so out of desperation that he couldn't pay his mortgage?

What sort of media outlets emitted this type of story?

Hm?
A few tips:
Cnn:
Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/04/faisal-shahzad-house-in-f_n_562562.html
Ezra Klein, Washington Post:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/05/the_economic_crisis_meets_terr.html
New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/nyregion/06profile.html?_r=1
The Economist:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/05/times_square_bomber

 

[Gokul43201]

Well, what about speculations that a certain Times Square would-be-bomber became so out of desperation that he couldn't pay his mortgage?

What sort of media outlets emitted this type of story?

So even if there was a huge financial upheaval in someone's life around the same time period as a radicalization you would prefer that news media outlets pay no attention to any possible connections? And "couldn't pay his mortgage" is a bit of an understatement of a situation where someone (with a new wife and a new baby) lost their home to a foreclosure.

In any case, is the foreclosure induced desperation theory the only one proposed by this liberal media, or one of many that they explored? This is not rhetorical - I really have not followed this closely enough to know the details. Also, are you saying that any suggestion of a possible causal relationship between huge financial troubles and a co-incident radicalization is crackpottery?

 

[arildno]

Also, are you saying that any suggestion of a possible causal relationship between huge financial troubles and a co-incident radicalization is crackpottery?

Depends on the direction of the causation arrow.
That radicalization, and the willingness not to care about the lives of others might well de-motivate a person from acting in such a manner that he will gain money in a lawful manner, is of course, not crackpottery at all.
Why should he any longer care about how other people gain comfort in their lives when he is enthused about the thought of..killing them?

Since it has clerly been shown that his radicalization started a lot earlier than his getting a foreclosure, this is the probable connection, if any, between his finances and his mental outlook.

 

[Gokul43201]

Since it has clerly been shown that his radicalization started a lot earlier than his getting a foreclosure, this is the probable connection, if any, between his finances and his mental outlook.

I am not aware of the details, but I was under the impression that the radicalization happened over the last year or two - which would be after the beginning of the collapse of the housing bubble (as well as the start of the recession back in 2008) in the US.

 

[arildno]

I am not aware of the details, but I was under the impression that the radicalization happened over the last year or two - which would be after the beginning of the collapse of the housing bubble (as well as the start of the recession back in 2008) in the US.

Give a credible psychological mechanism for why foreclosure of your house would spiral you into planning methodically the murder of hundreds of innocents at Times Square.

If you can't point to such a mechanism, you may as well dismiss this cherished brainchild of the libleft as what it is: A fantasy.

 

[russ_watters]

Can you give an example of a "crackpot liberal position" that's taken as mainstream? Examples have already been provided of crackpot cOnservative positions being taken as mainstream by Fox.

As i said: the Van Jones story cited above and doscussed in the article.

 

[Evo]

Give a credible psychological mechanism for why foreclosure of your house would spiral you into planning methodically the murder of hundreds of innocents at Times Square.

I've got to agree with you here, a person running into ongoing problems with mortgage payments due to any reason should start preparing to move into a cheaper rental property if it doesn't look like they can sell. Anyone being foreclosed on has had plenty of advanced notice. (unless you're that women that came home from work to find that the bank accidently gave her address to the foreclosure company they hired and they had trashed her house, taken her pet, and put a lock box on the doors).

But this is dragging the thread off topic.

 

[russ_watters]

Note that in the fort Hood case, the media also looked for and generated stories on similar non-Islamic extremist motivation. Also, that's different from reporting on (or not) someone else's crackpottery, but rather is a case of the media generating it themselves and reporting it as if it is a real story. Even if in this case "crackpottery" is too strong of a word, it is still wrong to do it.

 

[arildno]

Note that in the fort Hood case, the media also looked for and generated stories on similar non-Islamic extremist motivation. Also, that's different from reporting on (or not) someone else's crackpottery, but rather is a case of the media generating it themselves and reporting it as if it is a real story. Even if in this case "crackpottery" is too strong of a word, it is still wrong to do it.

It is called violation of the principle of Occam's Razor.
We already have an motival explanation that works fine for BOTH occasions, therefore, that explanation should be favoured rather than inventing disparate "explanations" for both of them.

 

[Jack21222]

As i said: the Van Jones story cited above and doscussed in the article.

You've given one example, and in my opinion, it's a fairly shaky example. Compare this to "climategate," the children singing an Obama song, and the "War on Christmas" and you'll see it isn't even close.

Fox is a nonstop parade of conservative crackpottery, while the "mainstream media" might occasionally miss an opportunity to be critical of the left. Like I said, it isn't even close.

 

[russ_watters]

You've given one example, and in my opinion, it's a fairly shaky example.

You're saying you don't think Van Jones is a crackpot? Do you not consider the 9/11 conspiracy theory movement to be crackpottery? The Free Mumia movement? STORM?

Compare this to "climategate," the children singing an Obama song, and the "War on Christmas" and you'll see it isn't even close.

Odd choices. You're claiming climategate is a conservative media generated conspiracy theory? And I'm not seeing any connection between the "war on christmas" and conservative media. And the chrismas song? Are you talking about the GOP official who distributed a "Barack the Magic Negro" song? Are you claiming that was a conservative media generated piece of crackpottery? Or a story that was missed or misreported by conservative media? Very odd choices indeed that seemingly reflect the type of bias I'm talking about.

Fox is a nonstop parade of conservative crackpottery, while the "mainstream media" might occasionally miss an opportunity to be critical of the left. Like I said, it isn't even close.

Based on your odd choices above, it doesn't surprise me that you feel that way.

In any case, I'm not arguing that Fox isn't conservatively biased, so it isn't all that useful to make that argument. I agree that they are! But even if the liberal bias by the rest of the media isn't as strong (and on average, it isn't), the fact that it is so widespread makes it just as big if not a bigger problem.

 

[CAC1001]

You've given one example, and in my opinion, it's a fairly shaky example. Compare this to "climategate," the children singing an Obama song,

I think the children with the Obama song was just to point out that something like that probably never would have happened with George W. Bush; also I would imagine the Left going wild if there were any videos that surfaced during the Bush administration of children singing songs dedicated to him.

[strike]Fox[/strike] Glenn Beck is a nonstop parade of conservative crackpottery, while the "mainstream media" might occasionally miss an opportunity to be critical of the left. Like I said, it isn't even close.

Fixed.

 

[Vanadium 50]

So even if there was a huge financial upheaval in someone's life around the same time period as a radicalization you would prefer that news media outlets pay no attention to any possible connections?

I would have preferred that the media got the story right, particularly with respect to cause and effect. The reason Shahzad was being foreclosed was because he stopped paying his mortgage when he was in Pakistan studying bomb-making.

 

[madness]

What evidence do you have that the media has a liberal bias? According to this video (I know some of you don't view Noam Chomsky as an acceptable source) the studies show the media has a right-wing bias.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlyb1Bx9Ic

 

[arildno]

And the only actual FACTS presented was that above 80% of the journalists vote Democrats.

A lot of other brouha-ha, for example Noam Chomsky's fantasy that journalists are so terrified of hunger that they write down, in minutest detail, the decretals their owners give them, and present it as..news.

If any of them were right, it wouldn't have been difficult to give a single, specific case of this.

 

[mheslep]

I would have preferred that the media got the story right, particularly with respect to cause and effect. The reason Shahzad was being foreclosed was because he stopped paying his mortgage when he was in Pakistan studying bomb-making.

That's exactly http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/05/faisal_shahzad_violent_fanatic.html":

As recently as Feb. 2009, [Shahzad] was not “underwater” -- as can be deduced from the fact that in this month Wachovia extended Shahzad a $65,000 line of credit secured by the equity in his home.[...]

Two months later, on April 17, 2009, Shahzad became a U.S. citizen -- and within a matter of days he had left his job and stopped paying his mortgage. Note that, unlike so many others in the U.S., he was not fired or downsized in the recession, but voluntarily quit his job and, on June 2, 2009, moved back to Pakistan, where would later begin explosives training.

It was not until three months later, in Sept. 2009, that Chase Home Finance filed for foreclosure in state court.

In addition it is known that Shahzad comes from a wealthy family (as did many of the 911 pilot-hijackers), and bought a $205K car in 2004.

So even if there was a huge financial upheaval in someone's life around the same time period as a radicalization you would prefer that news media outlets pay no attention to any possible connections? And "couldn't pay his mortgage" is a bit of an understatement of a situation where someone (with a new wife and a new baby) lost their home to a foreclosure.

In any case, is the foreclosure induced desperation theory the only one proposed by this liberal media, or one of many that they explored? ...

In some of the links that Adrino provided above (not all IMO) the theme is that financial difficulties are the leading go-to, often with radical Islam completely ignored (Ezra Klein's piece in particular). Those stories do not read as if financial difficulties are one of the "possible connections" under consideration that the news organization hasn't bothered to run down yet. In those cases I'd say that yes the author is guilty of either crack-pottery (they know about radicalism but reject it without examination), or b) severe epistemological closure (they're blinded to radicalism via obsession with some other world view).

 

[madness]

And the only actual FACTS presented was that above 80% of the journalists vote Democrats.

A lot of other brouha-ha, for example Noam Chomsky's fantasy that journalists are so terrified of hunger that they write down, in minutest detail, the decretals their owners give them, and present it as..news.

If any of them were right, it wouldn't have been difficult to give a single, specific case of this.

They didn't give evidence in that video, but entire books have been written on the Propaganda Model. The main assertion in the video was that the idea of a liberal bias is unfounded and without factual evidence. My question is whether you can provide sources which show that such a bias exists.

 

[arildno]

Russ have given one case, I've given another.

 

[madness]

Russ have given one case, I've given another.

I mean studies which show a general and overall leaning towards liberal viewpoints in the media.

 

[mheslep]

What evidence do you have that the media has a liberal bias? According to this video (I know some of you don't view Noam Chomsky as an acceptable source) the studies show the media has a right-wing bias.

I'm fine with someone throwing a Chomsky clip up, we can all take or leave his views as we like (I leave them these days); however, I object to following it with 'studies show' without bothering to identify said studies, much less referencing them. In addition, Chomsky does not say in the clip that the media has 'right wing' bias; instead he said it is controlled by the owners.

 

[arildno]

I mean studies which show a general and overall leaning towards liberal viewpoints in the media.

Listen:

For any bigoted extremist, even a moderate belongs to the other wing.

That is what sort of man Chomsky is, still whining about why most Americans regard him as a nutjob, not the least for his systematic romances with monsters like Pol Pot.