How to Detect Media Bias
In this hyperpolarized election season, when even the major parties find endless new ways to splinter into hateful factions, accusations of media bias are pervasive. The operating standard usually appears to be fairly simple, though stupid: Any source that reports anything that casts a negative light on someone’s preferred candidate or casts a positive light on their opponent will be seen by some to be “biased”.
The idiocy of such a standard should not, however, discredit all observations of media bias. What is needed instead is a better standard for detecting it. I suggest that the best way to detect media bias is when the same source treats different candidates or parties differently over time. And using this neutral and objective standard, the common conservative complaint of pervasive media bias towards Democrats appears to be justified.
Of course, liberals will endlessly hype the bias in the much smaller FoxNews while in the next breath saying that all media bias is a myth or, worse, really in favor of (presumably conservative) corporate interests, those liberals are usually unable to mount any objective evidence for their claims. Instead, they rely on…bias to relieve them of any responsibility to muck about with messy little things like evidence in the first place.
But a lot of the rest of us are on to the game now.
This is the best way to detect media bias
Investors Business Daily had an interesting article about a recent Harvard study that found that there was in fact a liberal media bias (Which I blogged about). It’s worth checking out.
Hi Dyre42, Just giving you a little help, for some reason, the link you blogged about, doesn’t work… here you go…
http://crapomatic.blogspot.com/2007/11/this-liberal-media-bias.html
"Study: Media links GOPers to sex scandals disproportionally."
Oh such sly and conspiratiorial doings. What craftiness and multi-front information warfare They use. Good thing people like you take the time to keep a track of Them, Jason.
No seriously; this is old news to me. Media, left-wing bias, Murdoch is a bastard but he doesn’t play worse than the left-wing leaners, yesyes. Of, course, I don’t see myself as some avant-garde watchman.