Media Bias

[Sam Adams]

It was suggested by another person on the forum that I start a new thread on the topic of media bias.  This thread came about because CNN was mentioned as being "the most biased" out there.

I disagree with this view and find CNN to be fairly neutral in the grand scheme of things.

 

I would like to start off with a study published in the Behavioral Research Methods Journal.  Using a text analysis software a group compared 12 months worth of transcripts from the 3 main 24 hour news sources...Fox, MSNBC and CNN.  The results were as one would expect, Fox was found to have a conservative bias, MSNBC a liberal bias and CNN fell "squarely" in the middle of these two.

I am having trouble inserting the link but if you google "Measuring Political bias of network new" you will find the study.

 

More to follow:

[Guest shiloh357]

I wouldn't say that CNN is the most biased or that there is any media outlet that is any less biased than any other.   CNN has about as much value as the Cartoon Network.  It is particularly hostile toward Israel.  CNN promotes the far left agenda as much as MSNBC.  CNN is probably not as "radical" MSNBC and MSNBC has more crazy people that work for them  like Al Sharpton and Christ Matthews, but to say that CNN is in the middle, is not really true.  CNN promotes gay marriage and has consistently ran interference for the president to shield him from criticism every bit as much as MSNBC.

 

I am not defending Fox, by the way.  Fox has its failings and gaffes as well.  But CNN is a far left news outlet if there ever was one.  I will say one thing in Fox's favor.  At least they don't give jobs to politicians who are known and disgraced perverts like Elliot Spitzer, and  to gays and communists the way CNN does.

[Sam Adams]

The further to the left or right one is the more middle of the road things look biased.

The data does not support CNN being terrible biased, they are more "populous" outlet, trying to stay up with what is accepted by the country.

I find it telling that to you Fox has its "failings" but you don't label them as biased.

But you are right about who Fox gives jobs to, most disgraced politicians are not young, sexy women who don't mind showing off their legs and other body parts.

[OakWood]

Most of the Media bias in the Western World these days is to the far Left. That's pretty obvious (except to those on the Left of course who think that it's not Leftist enough). That's why Conservatives and Christians are slammed and slandered, and Islam which is undeniably the most evil major religion on the Planet often gets a free pass.

 

Why so many people can't see any of the above is beyond me, other than perhaps they are suffering from the strong delusion that is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2.

[Sam Adams]

As one standing firmly in the middle politically speaking, I find a slant to the left, but not near to the magnitude you speak of. But of course, the further you are to the right, the further everything else look to the left.

[OakWood]

As one standing firmly in the middle politically speaking, I find a slant to the left, but not near to the magnitude you speak of. But of course, the further you are to the right, the further everything else look to the left.

 

Not true. I used to be a Marxist at one point before I became a Christian. I moved to the right because that's where I realised that the truth was. I'm well aware of where the centre is, and the civilised World has been moving more to the Left in recent decades. As it moves to the Left more decadence comes into the World.

[hmbld]

 

As one standing firmly in the middle politically speaking, I find a slant to the left, but not near to the magnitude you speak of. But of course, the further you are to the right, the further everything else look to the left.

 

Not true. I used to be a Marxist at one point before I became a Christian. I moved to the right because that's where I realised that the truth was. I'm well aware of where the centre is, and the civilised World has been moving more to the Left in recent decades. As it moves to the Left more decadence comes into the World.

 

 

And if you stand in the center of the left, would you view yourself as in the center?  Just wondering how people could agree on where the center is.  I am guessing there is no agreement lol.  

[Zemke]

Much of the idea of bias comes from the way we individually and collectively look at the world. Much like the arguments over theologies we all fit into a camp of some sort. When I sit at a table of left educated people they view me as conservative and when at a table of right wing thinking people I come off as liberal leaning or a fake conservative which males me laugh. It seems one must bye in fully to a mentality or you're a fence sitter and worthless. I believe this is why we have a government fixated on ideals instead of function. Everyone has an agenda.

 

Which by the way is why McCain lost. He was viewed as a maverick until the GOP made him "their" candidate. The talk happening as the convention was starting was "he is the GOP canditate and he will run on our agenda." when asked about his "maverick" stance. I turned off the radio and knew he would lose if he bought that garbage. They were even talking about igniting the base, at the convention, if you haven't ignited the base by then you're done. That election was over before it started and the people being interviewed sounded more like a high school pep rally.

 

I have a friend who works for NPR in Washington and they receive as much mail from liberals saying they are too conservative as they do conservatives saying they are too liberal. So they believe they are doing as best as possible reporting news as is. I'm speaking of the news broadcast and not the general programing over the day from your local NPR station.

 

It's ratings for the $. The popularity of the radio talk show right or left hosts and the public "bye into" had a lot to do with the media swinging one direction or another. There is a demographic out there that gets played. Strait up news is boring and frustrating to our ears because we want a story to be told as we perceive the truth to be. What the media is doing is giving us what we want, simple. The owners may have a bias and they have that right but more than anything it's $$$$$.

 

I had another friend who happened to be a popular radio host in a city and around ratings time he and his partner, morning show, would start a feud over a specific subject that polarized listeners and their ratings would shoot through the roof. 15 strait years #1. Same silly argument.

 

One of the biggest reasons the left has gained strength is the hard push from the right. I heard an interview with one of the people involved with the Obama election in 08 and he said what they did was, starting early, just simply copy and get good at how the GOP ran their elections. One thing we don't realize sometimes is the hard push from the religious right scares the crap out of people. Just look at history at what religious dominance has done. Shame is people won't see the true threat of Islam until they have to. Pearl Harbor type thing. We remember what 9/11 did for unity for a short time, what will it take for us to come together as a nation? Scary to think about but also a big reason why we haven't had a major event since, Terrorism is far more calculating than we give it credit for.

 

 With every action there is a reaction. All this pushing and pushing back has separated a country. One side seems irrational to the other and the lonely reasonable people can't be heard because of all the fighting.  

 

 

 

[Sam Adams]

OakWood:

Right and left are political perspectives that evolve over time, neither hold the patent on truth. Either taken to the extreme would be catastrophically bad for this country or any other to rule the realm

[OakWood]

 

 

As one standing firmly in the middle politically speaking, I find a slant to the left, but not near to the magnitude you speak of. But of course, the further you are to the right, the further everything else look to the left.

 

Not true. I used to be a Marxist at one point before I became a Christian. I moved to the right because that's where I realised that the truth was. I'm well aware of where the centre is, and the civilised World has been moving more to the Left in recent decades. As it moves to the Left more decadence comes into the World.

 

 

And if you stand in the center of the left, would you view yourself as in the center?  Just wondering how people could agree on where the center is.  I am guessing there is no agreement lol.  

 

 

There is no agreement because there is no exact definition of the centre, but having been far Left and now being Conservative, I've moved across most of the spectrum so I'm pretty sure that I know where the centre is. Wherever you believe the centre to be you can still observe the change in direction and in my experience the more society moves to the Left the more Godless and decadent it becomes, until it eventually falls into the grip of tyranny.

I don't wish to knock any well-meaning Leftists, after all I was once one too, but for most people it's not just a matter of defining the centre but also defining what the terms 'Left and 'Right' actually mean. Unfortunately it always appears to be those on the Left that keep redefining these terms. For example, Hitler and the Nazis were extreme Left by definition. They were always referred to as being extreme Left by the Media and the press at the time, but the Communists hijacked the term and by use of propaganda, redefined Hitler as being 'extreme right'.

It's the same with the word 'Liberal'. That's been hijacked too. The modern Liberal is far from Liberal.

It's always the Left who redefine or ban words. Even Political Correctness originates in schools of Marxism and the only thing that Political Correctness is good for is for telling people what they are and are not allowed to say!

Remember Orwell warned us of those who wanted to redefine words and teaches us all what to think. Orwell's ruling party in 1984 was a socialist one - that's no coincidence.