Topics:
Does political bias truly exist? If so, how
pronounced is it?
 What are the consequences of political
bias?
 Is it OK for a reporter to editorialize and
give their own opinions/draw
conclusions?
 What should be done to combat political
bias (if anything)?

Types of Bias:
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Skewing news: purposefully altering a news story (e.g.
taking quotes out of context, failure to report events
inconsistent with one’s ideology)
Playing favorites: giving harsher coverage to one political
ideology, or granting an inordinate amount of coverage to
one political ideology
Illusion of fairness: claiming that news is objective, or that
guests have no biases, when in fact they are advocating
(e.g. a Democratic strategist is only billed as a “CNN Political
Correspondent”, with no mention of their political ties, or
when Fox News claims it is “fair and balanced”)
Fabrication/false reporting: spreading false information,
either by lax fact-checking or plain lying
Bipartisanship: only focusing on Democratic and Republican
points of view while ignoring other political ideologies
(Libertarian, Socialist, Green, etc.)
Does Bias Truly Exist?
Yes, according to a 2005 UCLA study.
 Most national news organizations lean to
the left (liberal), very few lean to the right
(conservative).

Most liberal news
outlets:
Most centrist
news outlets:
Most conservative
news outlets:
Does Bias Truly Exist?
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
There are very few reporters that identify themselves as
conservatives.
However, all news outlets are much, much closer to the
center than either extreme. Watchdog groups like Media
Matters and Free Press tend to fan the flames.
Reporters’ political preferences
(Pew State of the Media 2008):
Percent who support “nuclear
development” (from a 1980
study in the book “The Media
Elite”)
Examples of Political Bias: 2008
Presidential Campaign
Post-Debate Focus Groups:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqcyz3UDvGw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gblYu9HKy8&feature=related
In February, the New York Times ran a front-page, above
the fold story about an alleged affair between John
McCain and a lobbyist. Also, in 2007, the Times gave a
hefty discount to MoveOn.org for them to place a fullpage ad against Gen. David Petraeus
During the Democratic primaries, some
media analysts thought that MSNBC was
biased against Hillary Clinton. Their
evidence included Chris Matthews saying he
got a “tingle up his leg” when Obama spoke,
and David Shuster saying that Chelsea
Clinton had been “pimped out” by the
Clinton campiagn.
2008 Presidential Campaign
Anchors, analysts, and pundits all in one
Barack Obama received 38% more
coverage than McCain in 2008 campaign
Fox calls Michelle Obama “baby mama”
“Terrorist jab”?
Consequences of Political Bias
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Can affect voters’ preferences. The Quarterly
Journal of Economics says the introduction of Fox
News in several towns across the nation increased
Republican votes between 3% and 28%.
“News” is increasingly packed with opinion and
analysis rather than hard, substantive news.
Reporters have become the subjects of reporting
(i.e. Bill O’Reilly, Keith Olbermann).
The line between reporting and editorializing is
dwindling.
How can the public make a fair, informed
decision?
The Many Lives of Andrea Mitchell
Anchoring on MSNBC
Reporting for “NBC
Nightly News”
Giving opinion on “Morning Joe”
Arguing with Chris
Matthews on “Hardball”
Providing analysis on
“Meet the Press”
Conflict of interest?
Cable News Believability by Political
Preference
Do We Always Need Objectivity?
“As journalists…we’ve gotten overly obsessed with parity…to
the point that it got ridiculous in a way. So when you have
Candidate A saying the sky is blue, and Candidate B saying
it’s a cloudy day, I look outside and I see, well, it’s a cloudy
day. I should be able to tell my viewers, ‘Candidate A is
wrong, Candidate B is right.’ And not have to say, ‘Well, you
decide.’ Then it would be like I’m an idiot. And I’d be treating
the audience like idiots.”
-- Campbell Brown, host of CNN’s Election Center, in a NY Times Interview
“All too often, a story free of any taint of personal opinion is
a story with all the juice sucked out. A big piece of why so
much news copy today is boring as hell is this objectivity
god. Keeping opinion out of the story too often means
being a fancy stenographer.”
--Geneva Overholser, chair of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism,
from Groping For Ethics in Journalism.
Wait… Edward R. Murrow Wasn’t Objective?
Walter Cronkite speaks out
against the Vietnam War
Bill O’Reilly approves the
“surge” of troops in Iraq
Colonial-era newspaper
publishers made no secret of
their political preferences
Edward R. Murrow denounces
Sen. Joe McCarthy
Keith Olbermann denounces
President Bush
Solutions?
Re-institute the “fairness doctrine”–
requiring broadcast stations to give
equal time to opposing viewpoints?
 Force news organizations to disclose
their political preferences?
 Require that opinion and commentary
be specially-labeled?
 Stress media literacy education in
schools?
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Conclusion
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SPJ says journalists should, “Examine their own cultural values
and avoid imposing those values on others,” and, “Distinguish
between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and
commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or
context.”

If biased news is so horrible, then why do
Americans keep consuming it?