A Perception of Bias
- Chris McAllister
- Jul 11, 2018
- 2 min read
The funniest thing happened to me today as I was driving around in my car. I listened to the radio... No, that was not what was funny. You need to let me finish.
There was an ad featuring Julie Bloom, Deputy Editor on the National Desk, of The New York Times where she extols all of the virtues of NYT journalists and how they explore every aspect of a story without prejudice or bias.
I will give you a moment so you can stop laughing. Now, let's continue, shall we?
Trump was elected as he labeled the media as "Fake News." If it is tilted as this image shows, then is it bias? Or is it reality?
The reality is that media outlets like The New York Times have destroyed their own credibility. They have no one else to blame but themselves. If you have to defend your own credibility, then you have already lost.
Chris Matthews - "...Immaculate, Perfect..."
In case you forgot where Matthews' bias first showed up -
If you are going to claim journalistic integrity, then your personal beliefs, opinions, and biases should ever be present in anything you do in a public forum. But Matthews claims to be a journalist.
This was roughly four hundred "left-leaning" bloggers, journalists, academics and such who discussed issues and how they would respond to them. You can read about the members here. You can read what seems to be the full archive of their discussions here. (You can download the whole file if you want.)
I know what some would say - "A private discussion group is not really any concern of mine." Well...
In 2008, participants shared talking points about how to shape coverage to help Obama. They tried to paint any negative coverage of Obama's racist and hateful pastor, Jeremiah Wright, as out of bounds. Journalists at such "objective" news organizations as Newsweek, Bloomberg, Time, and The Economist joined conversations with open partisans about the best way to criticize Sarah Palin. (Source)
When the private discussion group has enough power and influence to shape a presidential election, then you HAVE to start questioning their credibility. You really have no choice if you have an independent thought in your head. Because, if they were indeed independent and credible, they would not have to ask -
"Keep the ideas coming! Have to go on TV to talk about this in a few min and need all the help I can get." - Chris Hayes
So, the media bias is not only clearly prevalent; it has been so for a long time. So, Ms. Bloom - I will not be reading The New York Times for the news.
Time for everyone to start facing the facts. You have to adjust that line from Mark Twain -
"How do you know when a journalist is lying, his lips are moving."
in a jounalism class i once took one of our assignments was to take 3 top networks and compare the stories, wordage and importance they placed upon the story--guess what--it made virtually no difference which one you picked because they were nearly all the same including incredibly the same wordage they used...the only question that was not answered is did they have a group meeting and all decide this together or did they get their info from the same source like reuters, thereby they all used the same info and words..?
It seems Mark Twain was a sage. He certainly nailed journalists - "if their lips are moving they're lying". No truer words were ever spoken.