Does TV Have A Liberal Bias?

A recent book, Bias, by a CBS insider Bernard Goldberg, sets out to document how the media regularly distorts the news with a liberal bias. Goldberg makes some persuasive arguments for his point of view. *

He points out, for example that a 1996 study showed that most journalists were Democrats. Eighty-nine percent of them voted for Clinton compared to 43 percent of the general population.

From the standpoint of many conservatives, TV news tends to be liberal because it features stories on gay rights, civil rights abuses, antiwar demonstrations, women's rights, environmental issues, etc. -- all seen as being liberal causes.

But, from the standpoint of some liberals television is conservative because it's seen as being pro-business, without giving adequate time to alternative, non-mainstream views.

These arguments primarily surface in how news is covered.

According to Elaine Povich of the Freedom Foundation as reported by the conservative newspaper, the Washington Times -

More people who are of a liberal persuasion go into reporting because they believe in the ethics and the ideals. A lot of conservatives go into the private sector, go into Wall Street, [or] go into banking. You find that people who are idealistic tending toward the reporting end.

Generally speaking -- and there many exceptions -- people in business tend to be conservative and people who have a background in the social sciences — through education or working with people — tend to be more liberal. (We'll avoid trying to define the terms liberal and conservative at this point and go with the rather fuzzy, widely held definitions of what the terms seem to imply.)

People in the hard sciences also tend to be more conservative than people in the social sciences. The latter group includes many news people and actors, and some writers and artists — people whose ideas often surface in the media. Their views also tend to "push the envelope" of social change.

However, if we look at the moguls who hold corporate control of the media, we see that almost to a man (and they are mostly all men) they are conservatives -- some even ultraconservative.

In the United States five companies control 80% of what you see on TV, and 10 companies control two-thirds of what you hear on the radio.

Given the fact that the heads of the media conglomerates tend to be conservative, how do the two factions coexist; after all isn't it management that ultimately "calls the shots?"

Simply put, management, especially in TV programming, is geared toward whatever generates profits.

We've already noted that most media consumers like ideas that a slightly ahead of the status quo, as shown by the green area in the normal curve represented below. (This diagram is discussed in some detail elsewhere.)

To understand the direction of change illustrated, you need to recall that such things as two-piece bathing suits, men with long hair, miniskirts, racial integration, and the right of women to vote were at one time seen as radical liberal ideas which conservative factions strongly opposed. The article, "The Brains of Liberals," may help explain this.

Even the most conservative media owners, CEOs, directors, etc. regularly use sex and semi-nudity, which are not exactly associated with mainstream conservatism, to enhance profits.

One of the best known media moguls--a person widely considered to be quite conservative--regularly features photos of attractive, bare-breasted women in one of his most popular (non-U.S.) daily newspapers. The feature is clearly linked to increased readership and profits.

On television, Friends (now in wide syndication) has been one of the most popular and financially successful series of all time -- and, according to some observers, for its time it pushed the envelope of sexual content more than any other popular network series.

To cite two other examples, in March of 2002, the FCC received hundreds of complaints from viewers over the popular, titillating (and lucrative) Victoria's Secret lingerie programming featured on the Disney owned ABC television network. In late 2004, the FOX network, considered the most conservative in news, faced the largest fines ever levied by the Federal Communications Commission up to that point for sexually indecent programming.

Clearly, there is a frequently a conflict between profits and what many people see as traditional values -- with profits typically winning the contest. Other opinions on this topic can be found in this Business, Sex, and Morality Forum posting.

News Bias

When it comes to news, people show a preference for "news they agree with." Conversely, they tend to "tune out" information they don't agree with.

Thus, there has been a recent emphasis on moving to a more selective, conservative tone in newscasts.

FAIR, a liberal media watchdog group tabulated five months of two of the most popular TV news discussion shows -- Special Report with Brit Hume on FOX, and Wolf Blitzer Reports on CNN.

Both programs featured Republican guests (generally considered conservative) more often than Democratic guests (generally considered to be more liberal).

But, as shown here, the FOX news channel favored Republicans by a margin of about 8:1.

The same survey showed that FOX news featured white guests 93 percent of the time and male guests 91 percent of the time.

Comparing FOX news with the other primary news sources in the United States, Canada and Britain over a series of days in early 2003 indicated that not only did FOX news maintain a pro-Republican Administration spin compared to other news sources, but that many news items critical of the administration were either not presented, or in some cases were presented and subtly dismissed, or even discredited.**

Although this approach, together with FOX's impressive graphics and effects, is clearly popular with their many viewers, it raises serious questions about balanced news coverage and a well informed electorate. The issue of incestuous amplification is important in this discussion.

And then we have the radio talk show hosts who are almost all conservative and highly opinionated. They are discussed here and here.

Even so, the popular perception is that TV news is too liberal (45% vs. 14% that think it's too conservative).

Possibly not unrelated, to entice viewers and raise ratings TV programming regularly "pushes the envelope" with new and often risqué ideas.

Sexual themes are predominately featured along with ever-more-explicit forms of violence. Although viewers complain, they also regularly tune in -- and keep the ratings high.

Liberal-conservative arguments, including even the definitions of the terms, would fill books. Even so, it would seem that some of the issues discussed here are worth considering when it comes to claims of a "liberal bias" in the media. ***

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