On the decline of old media and how their unwilling­ness to serve the public diminish­es their brands: I know the New Zealand media lean heavily in favour of the liberal, and sensed that the American media were the same. I had read reports that support­ed that, from both sides of the political spectrum. It’s nice to see that confirmed in a liberal state’s univer­sity, which to me gives more credence to the claim.
   A UCLA political scientist has revealed a study of Ameri­can media (see here), revealing some truths:

• the Drudge Report actual­ly leans slightly to the left;
• Gannett’s USA Today is the most cen­trist print news outlet;
• the most centrist TV news outlets are: NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN’s Newsnight with Aaron Brown, Fox News’s Special Report with Brit Hume and the Drudge Report;
• of 20 major media outlets studied, 18 were left of centre, with the most liberal being The Wall Street Journal, CBS Evening News, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

   I have always argued that Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel’s Brit Hume, based on my few view­ings, was not biased to the right, but because so much news is left-leaning, that becomes “normal” to the audience. This is es­pecial­ly so in New Zealand, where, for instance, Gov Schwarz­enegger’s recent special elec­tion positions on Prop­o­si­tions 73 through 77 were never covered, nor were his reasons for denying clemen­cy for Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams. When neutrality actual­ly arrives, it looks right-leaning—when it is, in fact, merely right-leaning compared to the very liberal that we are usually fed. posted by Jack Yan, 11:17 AM  permalink