Uh-Oh! Media bias confirmed by UCLA

[KenpoEMT]

Well, here it is in black and white:
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6664

Media Bias Is Real, Finds UCLA Political Scientist

Date: December 14, 2005
Contact: Meg Sullivan ( [email protected] )
Phone: 310-825-1046

<SPAN class=copy><DIV class=Section1>While the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is conservative, the newspaper's news pages are liberal, even more liberal than The New York Times. The Drudge Report may have a right-wing reputation, but it leans left. Coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media. Meanwhile, almost all major media outlets tilt to the left.
These are just a few of the surprising findings from a UCLA-led study, which is believed to be the first successful attempt at objectively quantifying bias in a range of media outlets and ranking them accordingly.
"I suspected that many media outlets would tilt to the left because surveys have shown that reporters tend to vote more Democrat than Republican," said Tim Groseclose, a UCLA political scientist and the study's lead author. "But I was surprised at just how pronounced the distinctions are."

"Overall, the major media outlets are quite moderate compared to members of Congress, but even so, there is a quantifiable and significant bias in that nearly all of them lean to the left," said co&#8209;author Jeffrey Milyo,

Is anyone actually shocked by this? What suprised me most is that Brit Hume was rated fourth most Centrist.

 

[Makalakumu]

Well, here it is in black and white:
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6664


Is anyone actually shocked by this? What suprised me most is that Brit Hume was rated fourth most Centrist.

It's the education level. Most folks who write for these institutions are college educated and tend to lean left because of it.

 

[michaeledward]

I suspected that many media outlets would tilt to the left because surveys have shown that reporters tend to vote more Democrat than Republican," said Tim Groseclose,

It's a good thing that most editors, the people who supervise the reporters, tend to vote more Republican than Democratic. And the corporations which own the media, also tend to support more Republican positions than Democratic positions.

God knows that if a reported becomes a 'Miss Run-A-Muck', she will only be able to publish her transcriptions on the Front Page of those biased newspapers. ("If your sources are wrong, you are wrong." - Unless, you actually approach people with knowledge, like the members UNMOVIC) .... Naaa .... just got to publish what Dick Cheney wants in the paper.

 

[KenpoEMT]

 

[FearlessFreep]

It's the education level. Most folks who write for these institutions are college educated and tend to lean left because of it.

I sorta assumed it was because certain personality types tended to want to get into reporting and those kind of people also tended to lean left.

*and I don't mean that in a negative sense* not meaning to say anything about reporters and/or political leanings, just that I've noticed that people with certain political leanings are more likely to tend toward certan kinds of jobs and 'reporter' and 'left' seem a good match to me.

 

[FearlessFreep]

It's a good thing that most editors, the people who supervise the reporters, tend to vote more Republican than Democratic. And the corporations which own the media, also tend to support more Republican positions than Democratic positions.

But therein is the problem A good business owner is mostly focused on the bottom line of the business,...is the product selling. The owner of a news outlet, especially one who owns several businesses or interests, is not going to care about the bias of the reporters he or she employs as long as the news sells. So a liberal reporter rights a story with an inherent and natural bias and a conservative owner is going to let them as long as it moves papers or sells ad time

 

[arnisador]

It's the education level. Most folks who write for these institutions are college educated and tend to lean left because of it.

That is my guess too. Certainly, I believe the effect is real.

Were we hoping for completely unbiased reporting? It's the ideal, but could it be achieved? I'd imagine not.

 

[sgtmac_46]

It's the education level. Most folks who write for these institutions are college educated and tend to lean left because of it.

Then why do celebrities tend to lean further to the left? In point of fact, most reporters aren't that well educated. They tend to take a degree in broadcasting or poly-sci, and they usually never reach graduate level work. An associates are a bachelor's degree is usually as far as that goals.

No, the reason most reporter's lean to the left, is because it's a progressive field for people who want to change the world. If you weren't out to change the world, why get in to media? What's more, conservative views haven't traditional sold papers. What sells papers is populist rhetoric. The man on the street buys papers that play to his sense of alienation, and tells him that someone else is 'out to get him'.

That's my 'fair and balanced' interpretation.

 

[Xequat]

It's a good thing that most editors, the people who supervise the reporters, tend to vote more Republican than Democratic. And the corporations which own the media, also tend to support more Republican positions than Democratic positions.

Yeah, and to upnorth's point, I could argue that most of these people are college-educated and tend to vote Republican because of it, if what both of you are saying is right. It's a non-sequiter (sp?) unless you are saying that colleges are liberal institutions as well, but I don't think you're making that accusation.

 

[arnisador]

Then why do celebrities tend to lean further to the left?[/quote

Total fallacy. Most educated people are liberal does not imply that only educated people are liberal.

As an aside, reporters who study journalism may do so at the BA level or, as at Columbia, at the MA level as a first degree (similar to the MBA in that regard). However, it's true that many have a BA in some generic humanities or social science field, and that the political bias of education is less noticeable at the undergraduate level.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Then why do celebrities tend to lean further to the left?

Total fallacy. Most educated people are liberal does not imply that only educated people are liberal.

Good, i'm glad you noticed that upnorthkyosa was engaging in a logical fallacy. My exaggerated logical fallacy in the face of his blatant one worked to draw attention to it. THAT they are educated has nothing to do with the politics of reporters. They got the education they did because they leaned to the left.

If the majority of highly educated people were liberal AND the majority of extremly uneducated people were liberal, but the much of the middle class and moderately educated were conservative, what would that prove?

I'll tell you what it proves, in reality, liberal politics is pursued by those, who for whatever reason, feel disaffected OR those who are highly empathetic, who believe the system needs to be changed. Conservatives tend to be mainstream people who have no particular gripe, in general, with the status quo. When conservatives have a specific gripe, they don't view it as a systemic problem, but as an individual issue to be dealt with.

What's more, AS important as the 'level of education', is, in what area that education is in. For example, some fields are by definition biased in their political leanings. Political science, for example, is an area that seems to attract more than it's share of liberals. Business and economics seems to attact quite a few conservatives.

Also, more liberals tend to flock to the social sciences, with political bias being less of an issue in the hard sciences, and a fairly even distribution of conservative and liberal positions.

Moreover, conservatives tend to avoid teaching positions in academia, for a whole host of reasons, a job seemingly preferred by liberal professors. In addition, those with a capitalist bent tend to flock to careers where money is to be made. Conservatives also tend to be overrepresented in mathmatics, engineering and hard sciences.

As an aside, reporters who study journalism may do so at the BA level or, as at Columbia, at the MA level as a first degree (similar to the MBA in that regard). However, it's true that many have a BA in some generic humanities or social science field, and that the political bias of education is less noticeable at the undergraduate level.

 

[mrhnau]

It's the education level. Most folks who write for these institutions are college educated and tend to lean left because of it.

Dude, I doubt I'm the only one that takes that as a total insult.

 

[michaeledward]

It's the education level. Most folks who write for these institutions are college educated and tend to lean left because of it.

Dude, I doubt I'm the only one that takes that as a total insult.

Why?

Studies have shown that people who attend college, generally, have higher incomes than those who do not.

Would you argue with this statistic?

Studies also show that those with higher education levels have more liberal views than those who do not have higher education.

The studies, and their results are not secret. And they have been repeated many times.

If you don't agree with the premise, or methodology, that's fine. Argue those points. But taking the results of the study as a personal insult is just weird.

 

[michaeledward]

Is anyone actually shocked by this? What suprised me most is that Brit Hume was rated fourth most Centrist.

Here's something interesting ... not sure what I think of it yet.

How did this study determine a left/right leaning bias?

"To compute this, we count the times that a particular media outlet cites various think tanks and policy groups, and then compare this with the times that members of Congress cite the same groups."
​

I am not sure this is an effective way to measure anything ... by the number of times members of Congress cite a think tank?

Maybe I'll pay the ten bucks for the full article. Then again, maybe not.

 

[Makalakumu]

Why?

Studies have shown that people who attend college, generally, have higher incomes than those who do not.

Would you argue with this statistic?

Studies also show that those with higher education levels have more liberal views than those who do not have higher education.

The studies, and their results are not secret. And they have been repeated many times.

If you don't agree with the premise, or methodology, that's fine. Argue those points. But taking the results of the study as a personal insult is just weird.

Mike stole my rebuttle...:asian:

 

[mrhnau]

Why?

Studies have shown that people who attend college, generally, have higher incomes than those who do not.

Would you argue with this statistic?

Studies also show that those with higher education levels have more liberal views than those who do not have higher education.

The studies, and their results are not secret. And they have been repeated many times.

If you don't agree with the premise, or methodology, that's fine. Argue those points. But taking the results of the study as a personal insult is just weird.

What I DON'T like is the elitist view of the left, the insinuation that those not agreeing must be less intellegent. The insinuation that those "educated" would logically be left leaning. I'm a semester short of a PhD. Most of my PhD friends (those that are citizens anyways) actually lean to the right. They are some of the most educated and intellegent people I know. So, 52% of the US citizens that voted for Bush are uneducated? (forget exact %, correct if wrong). They could have presented someone who could have beat Bush (Lieberman. Shoot, I would have considered voting for him).

People have different views. Deal with it. Discuss the issues, but don't make clever posts insinuating "Intellegent people lean left". That adds nothing to the conversation and is entirely pointless.

Now, to your specifics. Yes, educated people on average make more money. However, that is irrelevant to the conversation.

Present your studies for "liberal views". I'd love to see the metric used for being a liberal, Thats a quite broad statement.

I'd love to argue the points. What I don't consider "arguing the point" is claiming "its logical, they are educated and intellegent, so they should lean left". That is not arguing the point. Newspapers reporter demographics are not representing the demographics of the rest of the US.

 

[Makalakumu]

What I DON'T like is the elitist view of the left, the insinuation that those not agreeing must be less intellegent. The insinuation that those "educated" would logically be left leaning. I'm a semester short of a PhD. Most of my PhD friends (those that are citizens anyways) actually lean to the right. They are some of the most educated and intellegent people I know. So, 52% of the US citizens that voted for Bush are uneducated? (forget exact %, correct if wrong). They could have presented someone who could have beat Bush (Lieberman. Shoot, I would have considered voting for him).

People have different views. Deal with it. Discuss the issues, but don't make clever posts insinuating "Intellegent people lean left". That adds nothing to the conversation and is entirely pointless.

Now, to your specifics. Yes, educated people on average make more money. However, that is irrelevant to the conversation.

Present your studies for "liberal views". I'd love to see the metric used for being a liberal, Thats a quite broad statement.

I'd love to argue the points. What I don't consider "arguing the point" is claiming "its logical, they are educated and intellegent, so they should lean left". That is not arguing the point. Newspapers reporter demographics are not representing the demographics of the rest of the US.

I'll see if I can find some of these studies. The big disconnet I see is the fact that Republicans certainly have more money then democrats and that since education costs money, they should be more educated. Of course, the Republicans have increasingly become the part of Walmart, so this could reverse that trend.

However, since we are throwing out some anecdotes, I'd have to say that when I was in grad school, I was hard pressed to find a republican. As an undergrad, it was even more difficult. Most of my professors were leftists and I can probably name less then a hand full that were right-wingers. I'm from MN though, and that state tends to lean left, so I suppose that probably makes a huge difference.

 

[mrhnau]

I'll see if I can find some of these studies. The big disconnet I see is the fact that Republicans certainly have more money then democrats and that since education costs money, they should be more educated. Of course, the Republicans have increasingly become the part of Walmart, so this could reverse that trend.

However, since we are throwing out some anecdotes, I'd have to say that when I was in grad school, I was hard pressed to find a republican. As an undergrad, it was even more difficult. Most of my professors were leftists and I can probably name less then a hand full that were right-wingers. I'm from MN though, and that state tends to lean left, so I suppose that probably makes a huge difference.

Location does make a big difference. I'm from NC, but I don't know any local NC residents in grad school here. I can find Dems here, but most of the people I spend time with are Reps (probably part of why I hang out with them). Indeed, anecdotes are not the whole truth, since its purely regional, but its still interesting conversation.

With regard to Republican money, that does seem a bit backwards, though I'd argue Reps do value education as much as Dems.

 

[michaeledward]

What I DON'T like is the elitist view of the left, the insinuation that those not agreeing must be less intellegent. The insinuation that those "educated" would logically be left leaning. I'm a semester short of a PhD. Most of my PhD friends (those that are citizens anyways) actually lean to the right. They are some of the most educated and intellegent people I know. So, 52% of the US citizens that voted for Bush are uneducated? (forget exact %, correct if wrong). They could have presented someone who could have beat Bush (Lieberman. Shoot, I would have considered voting for him).

People have different views. Deal with it. Discuss the issues, but don't make clever posts insinuating "Intellegent people lean left". That adds nothing to the conversation and is entirely pointless.

Now, to your specifics. Yes, educated people on average make more money. However, that is irrelevant to the conversation.

Present your studies for "liberal views". I'd love to see the metric used for being a liberal, Thats a quite broad statement.

I'd love to argue the points. What I don't consider "arguing the point" is claiming "its logical, they are educated and intellegent, so they should lean left". That is not arguing the point. Newspapers reporter demographics are not representing the demographics of the rest of the US.

You seem to be confusing the term 'Intelligent' with 'Educated'.
They are not synonyms. Yet you seem to be using the interchangably.

 

[Brother John]

The big disconnet I see is the fact that Republicans certainly have more money then democrats and that since education costs money, they should be more educated.

I was hard pressed to find a republican. As an undergrad, it was even more difficult. Most of my professors were leftists and I can probably name less then a hand full that were right-wingers..

My first question: What facts can you sight to support your first premise.... that "Republicans certainly have more money than democrats". Just wondering if this is your presumption or some quantifiable fact. From my experience, it's the opposite.

second: The next section about your classmates and instructor's political 'leanings'.... how do you know? Honestly, not trying to be argumentative...I've got respect for you NYK, but I'm just trying to get a handle on how you'd know that much about That many peoples political beliefs without guessing.

Thanks

Your Brother
John