To the Editor:
I would like to point out how very absurd and misguided Brandon Lausch’s “Liberal Bias Rules the Media” article was. This is a favortite argument of conservatives, largely founded in the whiny tradition of Rush Limbaugh. Republicans love to complain about the press that is favoring liberals in this country. It is easy to regurgitate platitudes, but let us take a look at reality.
Talk radio, a driving force of the media’s political coverage, is almost entirely conservative. Even look at Philadelphia, a city that is overwhelmingly Democratic. We are served by one major non-sports talk radio station, 1210 AM. The two main hosts are Rush Limbaugh and Michael Smirconish, both of whom are avowed right-wingers.
Next, I want to look at what national perceptions have become when we talk about political identification. Lausch misguidedly says that we have divided people into two camps when it comes to ideology: “moderates and right-wing nuts.” This is just not true. Look at the local 13th congressional district race. In 2002, Melissa Brown (unsuccessful Republican candidate) repeatedly made light of Representative Joe Hoeffel’s “liberal” tendencies. It was said with, and reported with, an implication of evil or. At the same time, Hoeffel refrained from saying anything about Brown being conservative. In modern America, liberal has come to mean “radical,” while conservative now means “pro-family values and the working man.”
Also, Mr. Lausch unbelievably sights Fox News Network CEO Roger Ailes as a source for his case. Ailes is head of a News network that, through independent non-biased tracking, was found to have an 8-1 edge in favor of Republicans and conservatives as guests and hosts. The other major news networks (CNN, MSNBC) hold edges that are near 1.5 to 1 (also slightly in favor of Republicans and conservatives,) which are still slightly unbalanced, but far better than the “fair and balanced news” of Fox. I suggest that next time you go to make an argument, you use someone slightly more reliable and less biased than Ailes.
Christopher Sgro
Junior, Political Science
Christophersgro@yahoo.com
Be the first to comment