This is ridiculous. The "liberal media" in this country consists of Mojo, The Nation, Progressive and a few other magazines, web sites and radio shows, plus Democracy Now! Except for Keith Olberman and the comedy shows, he corporate media offers nothing to the left of Genghi Khan. If not for the internet, there'd be no flow of information left in this country. Our democracy is hanging on by a thin flow of electrons.
Harvey Wasserman
www.solartopia.org

I've always figured that if the media really *was* as liberal as we constantly hear, we wouldn't be hearing about how liberal the media is.

Since our national media are so "liberal" one must wonder whence comes the demand for alternative weekly papers and listener-supported radio.

Also - DaveD, stop making sense.

This myth that the media is liberal is so maddening. Let's not forget the concerted effort in 2004 to sabotage and restructure NPR. Kenneth Tomlinson tried to bring down NPR from inside, hiring conservative consultant Frederick Mann to make up a story that the network had a liberal bias that amounted to propaganda.

Basically, as John Oliver's documentary about Fox News on the Daily Show makes clear, neoconservatives want the media to promote their agenda and their politicians. When the media does not do this, they howl bias.

The truth is, that it is dominated by Zionists and their stooges. Look at the press in America and compare it to the rest of the world, when it comes to reporting the crimes of that Apartheid State.

I remember growing up in the 70's, that i never seemed to hear anyone on the news channels who spoke from the point of view of the adults around me, and i lived in liberal california, the land of fruits and nuts...!!! The media has always bashed or been condecending to anyone with a conservative point of view. Then came the "conservative" revolution and we began to hear more points of view. The libral media howeled, but the MAJORITY of Americans gravitated to the news source. WHY, because it was the truth..huh..?
Gone were the days when conservatives were dismissed or spoken of in a condecending manner, because the PEOPLE had spoken..!!! They wanted conservative voices heard and the success of fox news and conservative radio attest to that..!!! The liberal media even tried to start its own liberal radio, and guess what..? NO ONE wants to listen...huh?
Explain that one ...?

Bill

There no liberal media the media sucks

Bill N. Arent't you the guy who posted accolades to a white supremist named BettyLu on a previous story? I think no one wants to hear what you have to say, really.

Robert, you are the bigot, not me. Go crawl under your rock. The sun is out now.

I suppose it all depends on how you define "liberal". If you define it this way - giving freely - then it makes sense. The MSM has done nothing but give Bush and Co a free pass on accountability.

Hey People,

No, i am sure that you don't think that anyone wants to hear what i, nor anyone else who does not agree with your narrow minded thought process. The thing is that this is a free country, no matter how much you try and stiffle free speech, and hide in your liberal blogs, we the majority of upstanding Americans, will search you out, and refute the blather you spout forth...:-) For some reason you and your kind, don't seem to want to debate topics. If you don't agree you just try and dismiss someone as, pick your lable, (racists, right-wing, homophobe,gun-nut, etc.) But the time when the average American would stand by, and watch you slander our great country, that time has come to and end...!!! We will argue any point you wish, and our country is finally in the sun, so you can crawl, and hide once again...:-)

Bill

I understand that my liberal friends won't see eye to eye with me on matters regarding the media -- or a bunch of other things for that matter. I have no problem with that. But I do feel the need to correct misconceptions left about me and my take about bias in the news.

You say that I'm wrong when I write that the MSM labels conservatives more often than liberals ... then you add: :"no one ever seems to have been able to demonstrate that it is [true]."

The conservative media watchdog group, Media Research Center, certainly has, on more than one occassion. Liberals may disagree with MRC re its opinions about bias, but the organization is pretty good on plain old facts. They've run several studies that show the MSM does in fact label conservatives far more often than it does liberals. Contact MRC. I'm sure they'd be glad to direct you to those studies.

I worked at CBS News for 28 years. I saw this lopsided labeling first hand. No conspiracy to "get those damn conservatives." Just a product of groupthink. Conservatives needed to be labeled because they supposedly were out of the mainstream; liberals didn't need so many labels because they were the mainstream -- at least in the eyes of liberal reporters and editors.

As I say, I don't mind honest disagreements ... but on this matter of labeling, you're simply wrong. Well-intentioned. But wrong nonetheless.

Thanks

Bernie Goldberg

Liberal Media? Don't make me laugh. While the TV news is littered with the likes of O'Reilly, Hannity, Dobbs, Beck, etc., there is only one Olbermann. As I wrote at News Corpse:

Since we know that Democrats outnumber Republicans; we know that a majority of Americans rate Democrats higher on every major issue including Iraq, health care, the environment, the economy; we know that the Republican president’s approval rating has sunk to historic lows; knowing all of this, why is there only one program that serves the majority of the viewing audience? Some media critics claim that the partisan slant of the media is due solely to the marketplace and that if the public wanted more liberal views, the media would supply them.

Oh yeah? By any objective standard, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Bernie,

Your defense doesn't bother to even approach a lucid argument.

When Jonathan says that no one ever seems to have been able to demonstrate that [liberal bias] is [true], you simply declare that he is wrong. But, ironically, you don't seem to be able to demonstrate that he's wrong. You merely cite the MRC (a dubious source, you must admit) but don't even provide any data or a link.

You are providing an outstanding example of what Jonathan is saying. Conservatives like yourself just make claims that you fail to document and expect us all (and the media) to take your word for it.

No thanks.

Mark, I am concerned about the Jewish Zionist domination of the American media when it comes to the Israeli problem. In Europe, we don't have that problem.

re Horst's comment: First, there is no Jewish domination of the American media. But I do find the "New Antisemtism" interesting since it's a just about wholly owned by the Left. "In Europe," Horst saysm, "we don't have that problem." No, in Europe you just have tons and tons of Jew haters.

Bernie, you just got trolled. You should think more before jumping on facts that confirm your biases.

"Horst" Wessel, we're on to you. Try a less explicitly fascist nickname next time.

Bernie and agum, you are both nuts. Just because I am like the nobel peace prize winners Jimmy Carter,Nelson Mandella, and Bishop Tutu, is no reason to call names. But welcome to my world. STRASBOURG - European Union lawmakers urged Israel not to inflict "collective punishment" on Gaza's population, saying its isolation of the territory had failed and its actions were endangering civilians.
They urged Israel to lift a blockade which has cut supplies to the 1.5 million people in Gaza, run by the Islamist group Hamas, and let in aid and essential goods and services.
"The policy of isolation of the Gaza strip has failed at both the political and humanitarian level," the European Parliament said in an adopted resolution.
"The civilian population should be exempt from any military action and any collective punishment." "The European Parliament calls on Israel to cease military actions killing and endangering civilians, and extrajudicial targeted killings," The resolution said. Steven Edwards, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2008
UNITED NATIONS - Louise Arbour, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights,( a former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda) has thrown her support behind a major pan-Arab human rights charter that commits to the elimination of Zionism.
In a statement from her Geneva headquarters, the former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda , welcomes the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which will come into force in mid-March.
"Regional systems of promotion and protection can further help strengthen the enjoyment of human rights, and the ... charter is an important step forward in this direction," Ms. Arbour says. The charter's preamble speaks of "rejecting all forms of racism and Zionism," alleging they violate human rights and threaten international peace and security.
Article 2 of the 53-article document says "all forms of racism, Zionism and foreign occupation and domination" should be "condemned and efforts must be deployed for their elimination."
Washington Post, “on Faith” 1/7/08, Mahatma’s grandson, President and co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.
Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence
Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience -- a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of a community that can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends. The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. But, it seems to me that the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews. The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger.
The Jewish identity in the future appears bleak. Any nation that remains anchored to the past is unable to move ahead and, especially a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs. In Tel Aviv in 2004 I had the opportunity to speak to some Members of Parliament and Peace activists all of whom argued that the wall and the military build-up was necessary to protect the nation and the people. In other words, I asked, you believe that you can create a snake pit -- with many deadly snakes in it -- and expect to live in the pit secure and alive? What do you mean? they countered. Well, with your superior weapons and armaments and your attitude towards your neighbors would it not be right to say that you are creating a snake pit? How can anyone live peacefully in such an atmosphere? Would it not be better to befriend those who hate you? Can you not reach out and share your technological advancement with your neighbors and build a relationship?
Apparently, in the modern world, so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept. You don't befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.(Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He is president and co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York)

bernie, Carter in his book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" , pg 209, "...(I)n the United States, Israeli government decisions are rarely questioned, voices from Jerusalem dominate in our media..." In other words, Zionist dominate the US media. "At the same time, political leaders and news media in Europe are highly critical of Israeli policies, affecting public attitudes." "Citizens in 15 European nations, indicate that Israel was considered to be the top threat to world peace."

Bernie, you need to read J.J. Goldberg's book "Jewish Power, Inside the American Jewish Establishment." Sam Zell(big contributor to Zionist causes) is buying the LA Times(Tribune Company) and is taking it private. The SF Chronicle editor is Phil Bronstein, the NYTimes publisher is Sulzberger(big contributor to Zionist causes), I could go on. Each one of the flagship newspapers own many local town newspapers throughout the country. The New York Times bragged about AIPAC on July 6, 1987(20 years later it is even more powerful) as "a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle East." The article also stated that: "The organization has gained power to influence presidential candidates , to block practically any arms sale to an Arab country, and to serve as a catalyst for intimate military relations between The Pentagon and the Israeli army. Its leading officials are consulted by State Department and White House policy makers, by senators and generals."(see The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and Harvard University Kennedy School of Government professor Stephen Walt) . You don't want to cross AIPAC and be sympathetic for third world people's struggles.

Nuttily, these threads always degenerate into a bunch of people arguing over Israel. I happen to think there is evidence that our nation has a bias towards Israel over Muslim states, even though it was the actions of Europe, not Arab nations or tribes, that caused the perceived need for Israel in the first place.
Bill Nigh, the reason that ratings jumped when the news went conservative is because it simultaneously became highly sensational. When I was growing up, news had a sure-footed blandness that I'm sure put you and 'you kind' to sleep. Then came uber Conservative politics and news sources like Fox in the nineties and we got to enjoy things like SHARK SUMMER 2004!!!! and we came to realize that on every street in America, every three seconds, a child is beaten and molested. Let's not forget the eerily quickly constructed format for dealing with 9/11 that was so slick, you'd almost think they had time to work out the fonts, the styling of the crawl, etc. long in advance. Obama said the truth last week, and that truth that people do have focal points for their frustrations has been played by the Conservative media for fifteen + years now, convincing people most recently that they have a national right to hate brown skinned immigrants, that privacy from wire-taps is just the price of freedom because there are terrorist sleeper-cells around every corner, and that you support troops by sending them to senseless wars that make a tiny percent of Americans phenomenally rich and leave behind another generation of future conflict between nations. Now, we'll be right back after these messages about fattening food and expensive pharmaceuticals to help you loose weight and/or feel very relaxed about everything!
Fox news talking about liberal bias is the joke AND the punchline.

The Newsoleum is one giant monument to right-wing propaganda as I argue here:

http://flakmag.com/features/newseum.html

The news is dead, so American democracy is close behind.

Essex, democracy is not dead as long as we have MoJo

Mr Miller,

It seems to me that you consider yourself the judge on what is news and what is not news...? You have decided, all by your little itty bitty self, that modern news formats are bad, and that the bland format of yesteryear is good. What a joke...!!!
You just can't get your tiny little brain around the fact that, the MAJORITY of the country likes to get both side of a story and then make the judgement for themselves...huh? Fox news presents both sides, and lets ME decide for myself. Unlike liberal media outlets which try and present one side of something and say, that is the way it is...
Kind of like the LA times story this week about the illegal aliens getting 4 kidney transplants, but they decided not to report on how many CITIZENS died since the illeglas got the kidney..?
OH, but you probably think that is ok..right..?
I live in souther california, i see the invasion EVERYDAY.>!!! The gang bangers from mexico taking over and breeding like rats... Soon they will come to your town and you will change your tune then..huh?
And since when is it not the right of the governent to listen to international calls..? You will defend a terrorists right to privacy, up untill he kills your whole family...

You make me sick..!!

Bill

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.

Elie Wiesel