From: jswitzer@afit.af.mil (Chip Switzer)
Subject: Re: Bias Evidence (was Re: Explanation for not reporting SC rally)
Organization: Air Force Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 16:23:44 GMT

hooker@aristotle.ils.mwu.edu ( BOB HOOKER) writes:

>In article <1992Sep14.234650.3181@afit.af.mil>, jswitzer@afit.af.mil (Chip
>Switzer) writes:

>> Below is one of the most damning pieces of evidence for a charge of
>> liberal bias in the media.  It is being reposted as many have not seen
>> it.  It deals with an idealological choice most news organizations have
>> made to not use a chosen label for the anti-abortion organizations and
>> to willingly use the label chosen by the pro-abortion organizations. 
>> 

>NOT

Pretty light on the discussion here.  Are you saying the data doesn't
support the conclusion, or the data is wrong, or something else?

>> During four months in 1988 (during the presidential race and after the 
>> Supreme Court agreed to hear a controversial abortion case), the MRC[1]
>> reviewed all stories that discussed abortion aired on NBC, CBS, ABC, and 
>> CNN primetime news shows.  
>> 
>> The media used the "pro-choice" label 97 percent of the time when referring
>> to the pro-abortion side of the debate.  They used the "pro-life" label just
>> 21 percent of the time when refering to the anti-abortion side (usually 
>> calling them "anti-abortionists").  Again, this has nothing to do with the
>> validity of the two sides' choice of names--only whether or not the media
>> chooses to use the chosen (positively spun) label, or whether it instead 
>> makes the judgement that another (more accurate?) label should be used.  
>>

>One four month period on one issue proves nothing.  I can easily find a
>counter example of conservative bias.  For example during the labor day
>weekend in the Illinois area a white college student was killed.  During
>that same weekend over 60 blacks were killed.  The only murder victim
>featured in the TV news was the white female.

I really doubt that you can "easily" find conservative bias in the news.
It must exist, in some places, but the "mass media" consistently shows
a pro-liberal bias in the general case.  Aside from the Gulf war
coverage, (which was more of a pro-US bias, in my opinion) nobody has
done anything but talk about the supposed conservative bias.  I've 
asked to see some examples.  I know there are books written on the
subject.  Doesn't anybody have an example from one of these books they
can show us?  I'd honestly like to know what to look for.  And your
murder story above is certainly *not* a pro-conservative bias.  You
cannot equate racism with conservatism.  Just because the mass media
does it all the time does not make it so.

And I do apologize for forgetting to include my "Disclaimer for the 
Logically Impaired."  You will notice that nowhere in my post did I 
even imply that this bit of evidence *proves* anything.  It was given
as an example. 

>In order to prove bias of the media you need more then one example.  You
>need to prove that on almost all issues at almost all times the media
>biases its reports to a liberal side.  

No, I'm afraid your wrong here.  "Almost all issues, at almost all
times", is for idealogues.  Nothing in the world is that conclusive.
Bias is very hard to quantify--if it were easy, everybody would have
already agreed that is was there and either done something about it
or moved on.  The fact is that one man's bias is another's truth.  One's
opinion is another's fact.  I personally think the most accurate way
to show bias is to listen to who's screaming the loudest and most 
consistently about it.  Pretty unscientific, but that's the only time
you ever hear about bias--when somebody is offended by it.  And I don't
think for a minute that liberal bias is the *only* bias.  I know others
exist, just not to nearly the same extent.  When was the last time you
heard a liberal complain about a conservative bias, not just as a
rebuttal to a conservative claim of bias?  

>This one example proves nothing conclusive.  Certainly on certain issues
>the press, which in many ways reflects the populare culture, is going to
>have some biases.  No intlelligent person doubts that the press has
>internal biases.  The question is can you PROVE or even demonstrate that
>the press is overall very biased towards the democratic side.

This one example does show pretty conclusively that the broadcast news
media follows the pro-choice line.  And that is in keeping with the
fact that a dispropotionate number of the media support abortion rights.
This evidence, along with the nightly assault on the conservative's
positions should at least be a starting point for "proving" the 
systematic liberal bias in the mass media.
-- 

Chip Switzer                            "A witty saying proves nothing." 
jswitzer@afit.af.mil                              -- Voltaire