Media bias

1. Media bias Partisanship, objectivity andthe eternal search for the truth

2. Historical underpinnings • Colonial printer-publishers had no notion of objectivity • Nevertheless, advertising needs could be a check on pure partisanship

3. Boston Massacre • Coverage was almost pure fiction, written largely by Samuel Adams • Pro-British publishers had been driven out of town several years earlier

4. An advance in reporting • Isaiah Thomas provided an accurate eyewitness account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord for his newspaper, the Massachusetts Spy

5. The Federal period • Jefferson and Adams battled it out through partisan newspapers

6. Early stirrings of objectivity • James Gordon Bennett (left) and the penny press had a mass audience • Associated Press, Civil War gave rise to objective voice • Department store advertising changed economics in late 19th century

7. Yellow, but not partisan • Pulitzer and Hearst were sensationalistic, but their papers weren’t party organs • Adolph Ochs buys the New York Times in 1896 • The modern era begins

8. Rise of professionalism • Journalism schools, professional associations • Reporters werepro-FDR, publishers endorsed Republicans • Censorship during World War II

9. A crisis of objectivity • McCarthy era exposed its limits • Stories were accurate but not true • How can we stay neutral while pursuing the truth?

10. Civil-rights era • Media on the side of equal rights • Opponents portrayed as ignorant • Backlash gaverise to modern conservative movement

11. Vietnam War • Reporters like David Halberstam (left) reported war was going badly • Media blamed for losing the war • Parallels today to the war in Iraq

12. The state of objectivity • Kovach and Rosenstiel: “Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth” • Lippmann defined objectivity as a method, not a result

13. Case study: Global warming • What is the overwhelming scientific consensus? • Why do the media report this as though there were genuine disagreement?

14. Are the media liberal? Credit: MediaResearch Center • Washington reporters vote Democratic • Do personal views affect fair coverage? • Should we have balanced news staffs?

15. Nixon and the media • “Silent Majority” was unhappy with cultural change • White middle-class voters were trending Republican • Media seen asliberal elitists

16. Spiro Agnew • Denounced media as “nattering nabobs of negativism” • Battled press over Pentagon Papers and Watergate • Accusation against the media lived on

17. Ronald Reagan • Perception was that media were tough on him • Lowest moment was Iran-Contra affair • Little evidence of negative coverage

18. Rise of conservative media • Rush Limbaugh and other radio hosts attract millions • Wall Street Journal editorial page • Fox News Channel appeals to sense of resentment

19. William Kristol “I admit it — the liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was often used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures”

20. The so-called liberal media • Whitewater a scandal that wasn’t • Lewinsky a bigger deal with the press than the public • Gore was smeared with phony claim that he’d “invented the Internet”

21. A theory of media bias • Mainstream is liberal on cultural issues like gay marriage • Small but influential conservative press “works the refs” • Political reporters strain not to beseen as biased

22. Voices on the left • Small publications like The Nation • Radio hosts like Ed Schultz (left) and Stephanie Miller • Left-leaning Web sites like the Daily Kos and Blue Mass. Group

23. An infamous interview