Our Liberal Media at Work?

 

 

I’ve gotten into countless arguments with other conservatives over whether the media is liberal. One young boy once declared to me, “If you think the media is not liberal, you must be more liberal than the media!”

That’s one of those moments when I want to beat my head against a wall. It would be far more productive.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am conservative. But anyone who knows me also knows I look at all sides of the story and I don’t jump on bandwagons. (Maybe that’s because I was once part of the media…) I’m not going to deny there are many, many instances when the media does report on the news in a very liberal manner. Just take the coverage of the Iraq war as a perfect example. And I would never ever claim the media was conservative.

But is the media truly liberal at all times? Is it more than just an individual reporter’s leaning? Is the media out to destroy every last conservative? To quote LOLcat: O Noes!!!

Some conservative pundits will whine about how “terribly unfair” the media is. They’ll show signs of the media’s extreme liberalism with examples like, “Remember the march for life in Washington? A lot of people attended and the media didn’t cover it. The media is liberal!!”

I’m very pro-life. But as a former journalist, I also know why an annual gathering may not get covered. What else was going on at the time? Were other events more newsworthy? Sorry to disappoint you, but an annual event, even if many people attend, is not automatically news. If something bigger is happening, it’s out.

OK, let’s take a more recent example. How about the Wright controversy? Rev. Wright is all over the news, absolutely everywhere. First, the media slammed Obama for not denouncing Wright. And now, if you can believe it, some members of the media are slamming Obama for going ahead and denouncing Wright.  (Here’s just one example.)

Meanwhile, McCain has been left virtually untouched over the last few weeks. 

This can mean only one thing…

  The liberal media has converted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, well, no. That’s not it at all. The media is once again, as it always does, reporting on controversy.

And that’s an area where you could claim media bias. Reporters are drawn to the bad and the ugly, whichever side it falls on. The good and the neat are rarely reported. It would be nice to see that change sometime. I’d love to read stories about the good that has happened in Iraq and the positive changes that occurred. I’d love to hear more stories about positive candidates who stand by their morals.

Maybe one day it will happen. I can dream, can’t I?