Hatrack River Forum: Journalists and Political Donations

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Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :

This article about journalists donating to political parties brings up, of course, questions about media bias. From a telling graph:

quote:
Whether you sample your news feed from ABC or CBS (or, yes, even NBC and MSNBC), whether you prefer Fox News Channel or National Public Radio, The Wall Street Journal or The New Yorker, some of the journalists feeding you are also feeding cash to politicians, parties or political action committees.

MSNBC.com identified 144 journalists who made political contributions from 2004 through the start of the 2008 campaign, according to the public records of the Federal Election Commission. Most of the newsroom checkbooks leaned to the left: 125 journalists gave to Democrats and liberal causes. Only 17 gave to Republicans. Two gave to both parties.

Now, personally I am surprised this came from MSNBC, but it does add to the fuel that media is biased against Republicans and especially conservatives. No matter what your position on that question, this is something to think about.

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

*shrug* I don't find this in the least surprising--or objectionable. But then again, I have always agreed that there is a slight but perceptible liberal bias in the mainstream media. I just don't think this is avoidable. All people have their unacknowledged biases, and it's not surprising that a "liberal artsy" group like writers and talking heads will lean toward the left. I think it's worth acknowledging, so that we can take what we see with a grain of salt, but I don't think it can or should be fixed.

I think countering mostly unconscious bias with the deliberate and extreme bias of Fox News is counterproductive, not that anybody asked. [Wink]

[ June 21, 2007, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: Icarus ]

Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :

I wonder if the selection bias goes as far down as college. I'm curious as to a study about which parents are more accepting of sending their seventeen year old off to study to be a journalist.

Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :

Uh-huh.

And those journalists' bosses?...