Paul Waldman on media bias
Paul Waldman (Senior Fellow at MediaMatters) has a few comments about bias in the media, from the CBS News “Public Eye” column. Perhaps his best line is this one, where he discusses fact-based criticism rather than mere accusation of bias:
Go to our web site and look through the thousands of items we’ve produced in the last two years, and you’ll find the factual errors, misleading statements, and sins of omission we’ve documented. What you won’t find is relentless accusations that reporters, commentators, or news outlets are “biased.” When we do an item on something that appeared in the news media, it’s because we can demonstrate that it was false or misleading, not because we just don’t like it. [emphasis added]
That is precisely the problem with to much commentary on the media: too many imprecations and too few demonstrations. Don’t just tell me your opinion; back it up with some facts. Later in the piece, Waldman separates his organization from the right-wing AIMs and MRCs who continue to allege “liberal bias” in the media:
There may be no more profound difference between the left and the right on media issues than this: progressives believe in journalism. We don’t want news outlets to be shills for Democrats. We believe reporters have to be critical, aggressive, and unyielding in holding the powerful accountable and finding the truth, no matter who is in charge. Because without a courageous, independent press corps, democracy itself is impossible.But in recent years the right wing has undertaken an assault not only on what they perceive as coverage unfavorable to their cause, but on the very idea of objective news. Conservatives have become the true post-modernists, arguing that any news presentation that reflects badly on Republicans must have a “liberal bias” – that there are no facts, only their (right) opinion and everyone else’s (wrong) opinion. [emphasis added]
(Thanks to Atrios for the tip.)