Laurence Tribe is the noted Harvard law professor. Rush Limbaugh is the conservative talk show host. Rosie O'Donnell is simply Rosie O'Donnell, no matter how many liberal opinions she shares with her audience. Conservatives must be identified because the audience needs to know these are people with axes to grind. They're simply reasonable views, shared by all the reasonable people the media elites mingle with at all their reasonable dinner parties in Manhattan and Georgetown.
Reporters pride themselves on their skepticism.
Yet many uncritically pass along the views of liberal activists in a way they would never do with conservatives. 10 minutes later it's on the evening news. The media elites can float through their personal lives and rarely run into someone with an opposing view. Never mind that Nixon carried 49 states. She wasn't kidding.