Media Bias

Marvin Olasky relays this humorous account: "Columnist Michael Barone recalls asking a news executive, "Doesn't the fact that 90 percent of your people are Democrats affect your work product?" The response: "Our people are professional. They have standards of objectivity and professionalism, so that their own views don't affect the news." Barone: "So what you're saying is that your work product would be identical if 90 percent of your people were Republicans." The response: "No, then it would be biased."... "

Now, I've never been so blatantly biased in my entire life! I'm completely objective and professional in all my opinions! :-)

My grandfather used to say, "Since you have a belly button, you're entitled to your opinion."

The fundamental issue for Christian men to remember is that media bias isn't simply about political view.* The hardest media bias to overcome is the FORMAT. Regular human beings simply cannot package the complexities and subtleties of the issues we face into 2.5 minute video segments. You can't appropriately represent all the dimensions of an issue. Being so selective about what you say and show guarantees that you'll interject your bias.

The news media, of course, are responding to what the audience wants. Few people, in my experience, actually want to get information in order to think about it. When it gets past a point of being "entertainment," they're going on to the next channel.

It's incumbent on Christian men to be thinkers, and not dependent upon someone else's sound bites, no matter how well they "fit" your preferred paradigm. And we need to train our kids to be discerning, capable of finding facts from multiple sources and working through them logically. (Do not count on schools to do this for them, men, that's your job. I'm not saying you have to homeschool.)

*For the record, I do believe the data supports the statement that overall, mainstream TV network news and the largest newspapers tilt towards the liberal side.