Is the Media Liberal?

[Tim]

I keep hearing that the media is liberal, but I see liberal AND conservative media out there and very few objective news sources.

But something bothers me about this whole "liberal media" stereotype. The vast majority of the news whether it be newsprint, radio or television is owned by 5 large corporations. So almost everything you see and hear in the news comes from one of these five corporations.

Time Warner (US)
Disney (US)
Viacom (US)
Bertelsmann (GER)
News Corporation (AUS)

... it would have been difficult to imagine in 1983 that the corporations that owned all the country's dominant mass media would, in less than twenty years, shrink from fifty separate companies to five.
If however one looks at the properties of the dominant five, it provides some insight into how it could have happened. Their steady accumulation of power in the world of news, radio, television, magazines, books, and movies gave them a steady accumulation of power in politics. Political leaders and parties know that the news media control how those politicians are depicted to the voting public; the more powerful the leading media, the more powerful their influence over politicians and national policy. Prudent politicians treat the desires of all large corporations with care. But politicians treat the country's most powerful media corporations with something approaching reverence.

Now why would these corporations pander to the left? Is it in their best interest with the threat of the "fairness doctrine" or higher taxes???

I would also like to touch on the advertisers and their control of the media.
Why would BASF spend millions on advertising when the public can't even buy their products? Why is there a big trend in large corporations spending billions in advertising in things we cannot buy? Is this a way to control the media? The thread of lost revenue for not doing as their told?

 

[groundpounder]

Re: Are the Media Liberal?

yes, the vast majority of the media is liberal.

Just going with the OP question.

 

[BadBoy@TheWheel]

Re: Are the Media Liberal?

I cannot believe it's not painfully obvious that they are.

The questions that a lot of folks were curious about never got asked by anyone else other than FOX which has been branded to be soooo horribly right, that a Dem wouldn't dare watch them.

Except to blame them for what's wrong with politics....I mean hell Obama must have watched Fox, after all he blamed them for everything that went wrong with the media during his campaign

 

[BadBoy@TheWheel]

You can thank me later for the title grammar repair :24:



Love,
Sarah

 

[Panic]

Re: Are the Media Liberal?

FOX which has been branded to be soooo horribly right, that a Dem wouldn't dare watch them.

No, dems watch Fox. It's a great source of comedy.

 

[Tim]

You can thank me later for the title grammar repair :24:



Love,
Sarah

Media is plural... any Wasilla hick would know that...

 

[Panic]

You betcha!

 

[Fox Mulder]

The mainstream media is liberal--as BBW said, its painfully obvious and amazing that some people deny it.

If you could play videos of the media when Bush got elected compared to when Obama got elected its like the difference between night and day--the media were all ejaculating over each other with euphoria over Obama's election while you didn't see anything close to that with Bush.

As to the corporation issue, that's irrelevant--many of these subsidiaries operate completely independently--all the news media do. The vast majority are liberal, clearly.

Hell, what about Dan Rather for Godsakes? The guy would never concede that his news report on Bush's National Guard service was a mistake.

 

[groundpounder]

tons of anecdotal evidence to suggest that they are....

 

[groundpounder]

here is something to ponder, though:

Let's go with the opinion that they are - why does it matter?

 

[Tim]

here is something to ponder, though:

Let's go with the opinion that they are - why does it matter?

To me it doesn't matter seeing how I don't stand at the troth of corporate media and lap up the shit they throw out to us. I truly believe the media died a long time ago. Now it's a matter of digging around for the facts, getting to the source.
It's just the generalizations I hate. The media are liberal? Well Fox News isn't liberal, yet they are a driving force in the media. So how can you say the liberal media bias?

I think the term Liberal media bias was a calculated catch phrase to help control the flow of media coverage. It's like the coach that yells are the refs, it helps shape future calls on his players.

 

[Mystic]

I think today the media IS controlled by whoever or whatever party is in charge at the time. Then UNTIL the person they are sucking ass with does something publicly wrong they continue to show a biased support. The media is a twofaced machine like the majority of human beings happen to be like as well...people will support anything until something else comes along that they think looks like a better deal.

 

[dt3]

Of course they are, and I'll prove it.













Any questions?

 

[SgtSpike]

here is something to ponder, though:

Let's go with the opinion that they are - why does it matter?

It matters a bunch. Lots of people believe just about everything they see on TV, and if the majority of TV is liberal, well, then those people who believe everything on TV will end up liberal as well.

Take the war on Iraq. Many people now believe that the reason the war was started in the first place was because of oil. I'd sure like to see one tiny shred of evidence on that note, yet many people hold it to be 100% true! Who gave them this idea? The liberal media!

The liberal media is what's turned Bush's approval rating from the 80%'s to the 20%'s. I can guarantee that if the majority of media was conservative, Bush's approval rating would still be up in the 60%'s at least. They will take anything good or bad and turn it against the Republican/conservative party.

That being said, along with the author of the thread, I AM interested in the reason that the media is liberal... Is it because of how they are getting paid? Because they all want to be "politically correct"? Or some other reason? I'm not really sure WHY the media is liberal, but I know it IS. I'm really curious as to the why though.

 

[dt3]

Yes, the majority of the media is liberal. But, apparently (according to the election results at least), so are a lot of Americans. I think it's simply the media giving the people what sells. If everybody quit watching CNN/CBS/NBC etc... and turned to FOX, I think we'd see the more liberal channels start shifting to the center. The media is a business, first and foremost. Their programming reflects what gets them the most money.

 

[SgtSpike]

Yes, the majority of the media is liberal. But, apparently (according to the election results at least), so are a lot of Americans. I think it's simply the media giving the people what sells. If everybody quit watching CNN/CBS/NBC etc... and turned to FOX, I think we'd see the more liberal channels start shifting to the center. The media is a business, first and foremost. Their programming reflects what gets them the most money.

I don't believe the majority of American's are liberal. Many people who call themselves Democrats are actually quite conservative when you boil down individual issues. It's because liberal viewpoints on things always look good on the SURFACE, but when you boil down to the actual costs, consquences, or inconveniences of one of their proposals, it stops looking so good.

 

[dt3]

I don't believe the majority of American's are liberal. Many people who call themselves Democrats are actually quite conservative when you boil down individual issues. It's because liberal viewpoints on things always look good on the SURFACE, but when you boil down to the actual costs, consquences, or inconveniences of one of their proposals, it stops looking so good.

I agree, which is why I said "according to the election results at least"

 

[Tim]

I don't think the majority of Americans are liberal or conservative. I think it's a good healthy mix. Where some of the population are for conservative economics and liberal social issues (where I'm at) others have different priorities. I think you would find that a very small percentage are straight liberal or straight conservative.

 

[SgtSpike]

I don't think the majority of Americans are liberal or conservative. I think it's a good healthy mix. Where some of the population are for conservative economics and liberal social issues (where I'm at) others have different priorities. I think you would find that a very small percentage are straight liberal or straight conservative.

That's probably true too. Lots of people take some ideas from each party as their own personal system of beliefs and/or "way things should be".

 

[JosephGabriel]

Totally depends which part of the media you're talking about!