As for the supposed uniformity of voices in the American media, any comprehensive examination would indicate otherwise. The news magazines also have left, center and right editorial perspectives. The highly scrutinized television network newscasts are called liberal by conservative critics and slavishly establishment-oriented by those on the left. Talk radio s most vocal and listened-to programs are conservative. And go to the op-ed pages of America s newspapers.
Conservative columnists dominate and apparently have the highest readership.
So, not only are the number of liberal voices in the media dwindling, their influence is actually being eclipsed by their conservative counterparts. And, it should be emphasized, the presence and influence of conservative opinion leaders has always been felt in the American media. What s more, the only person to appear on the list in each of those seven decades was conservative commentator Paul Harvey. Lack of response taken as affirmation Conservative critics of the press, whatever their intentions, have gone astray by assuming too much. The U.S. press is not liberal, except in the personal political views of a majority of reporters, and these characteristics are no more likely to be injected into a story than are journalists age, educational background, religion or taste in music.