Difference between revisions of "Liberal media bias"

Revision as of 21:36, 25 January 2015

About

"Liberal media bias", taken at face value, can refer to either of the following:

media that is liberally biased: belief that much of the media (especially the mainstream media, especially in the United States) has a substantial liberal bias
liberal bias in the media: belief that a given report or other piece presented within the media is an example of liberal bias

The former meaning seems to be more often intended though it's not always clear.

It should be noted that mainstream media in the United States is considerably more right-leaning than the media in Europe. Despite this, American media is accused of "liberal media bias" (most often by members of the political right) far more often than European media.

Such claims of bias are generally used in an attempt to discredit or dismiss any information which the right-wing establishment does not wish to address.

Terminology

Also known as: liberal media conspiracy, liberal media elite

Conclusions

Since freedom of speech (which includes freedom of the press) is a liberal concept, it would make sense if news media (whose ability to function properly depends heavily on such concepts) tended to favor liberal ideology. A properly-functioning press would rightly be seen as the anti-authoritarian antidote to the establishment's inevitable tendency towards creeping authoritarianism.

In reality, however, most of the mainstream media (especially in the US) is now owned by a very few companies whose aims seem to be authoritarian and plutocratic, so in practice today's media tend to display a distinct right-wing, authoritarian bias.

However: Even if the media were, in fact, biased towards liberal ideas, it's not clear why anyone, much less conservatives who claim to care about the well-being of American society, would feel this is bad for America, as America itself was founded on this and other enlightened liberal concepts (democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc.). The obvious conclusion to draw is that those who wield claims of "liberal media bias" as a form of attack don't really understand what they are saying, and are simply using it as a soldier argument or tribal identity marker.

Related Pages

Left gatekeepers are those in positions of respect or authority within the political left who feel it necessary to maintain their establishment connections (and hence their exclusive access to newsworthy establishment figures) by carefully avoiding or even repudiating any viewpoints which the right-leaning establishment has deemed "too radical".
Liberal media bias is a subset of the more general claim of liberal bias.

Links

Reference

Wikipedia redirects to media bias as of 2015-01-25
Conservapedia
~~RationalWiki~~: no information as of 2015-01-25 (but see liberal bias)

Blogs

Right from the Right "Created to give example after example of media bias, left wing lies, and the PC world."

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 </hide>
 ==About==
-The idea of [[liberal media bias]], i.e. that the mainstream media (especially in the {{USA}}, where this is actually less true than in [[Europe]]) displays a strong [[bias]] towards [[liberal]] interpretations of the available evidence, is a popular claim on the [[political right|Right]]. (Presumably it goes without saying that the newer media, such as blogs and [[Wikipedia]], are hopelessly mired in their liberal roots &ndash; except for those explicitly declared to be of a conservative bent in order to counter this disturbing trend towards liberalism.)
+"[[Liberal media bias]]", taken at face value, can refer to either of the following:
+* '''media that is liberally biased''': belief that much of the media (especially the [[mainstream media]], especially in the {{USA}}) has a substantial [[liberal bias]]
+* '''liberal bias in the media''': belief that a given report or other piece presented within the media is an example of [[liberal bias]]
-This claimed bias is then used to effectively discredit any information which the right-wing establishment wishes to dismiss without actually having to rationally argue against it.
+The former meaning seems to be more often intended though it's not always clear.
+It should be noted that mainstream media in the {{USA}} is considerably more right-leaning than the media in [[Europe]]. Despite this, American media is accused of "liberal media bias" (most often by members of the [[political right]]) far more often than European media.
+Such claims of bias are generally used in an attempt to discredit or dismiss any information which the right-wing establishment does not wish to [[address the content|address]].
 ===Terminology===
-* '''Also known as''': liberal media conspiracy, liberal media elite
+'''Also known as''': liberal media conspiracy, liberal media elite
-* '''Related''': "Liberal media bias" is a subset of the more general claim of [[liberal bias]].
 ===Conclusions===
-Since [[freedom of speech]] (which includes [[freedom of the press]]) is a [[liberal]] concept, it would make sense if news media (whose ability to function properly) tended to favor liberal ideology.
+Since [[freedom of speech]] (which includes [[freedom of the press]]) is a [[liberal]] concept, it would make sense if news media (whose ability to function properly depends heavily on such concepts) tended to favor liberal ideology. A properly-functioning press would rightly be seen as the anti-authoritarian antidote to the establishment's inevitable tendency towards creeping [[authoritarianism]].
-In reality, however, most of the [[mainstream media]] is now [[media consolidation|owned by a very few companies]] whose aims seem to be [[authoritarian]] and [[plutocrat]]ic, so in practice today's media tend to display a distinct right-wing bias.
+In reality, however, most of the [[mainstream media]] (especially in the US) is now [[media consolidation|owned by a very few companies]] whose aims seem to be [[authoritarian]] and [[plutocrat]]ic, so in practice today's media tend to display a distinct right-wing, authoritarian bias.
-Even if the media were, in fact, biased towards liberal ideas, it's not clear why anyone, much less [[conservative (US)|conservative]]s, would feel this is bad for America, as America itself was founded on this and other [[enlightenment|enlightened]] liberal concepts ([[democracy]], [[freedom of speech]], [[freedom of religion]], etc.). The obvious conclusion to draw is that those who wield claims of "liberal media bias" as a form of attack don't really understand what they are saying, and are simply using it as a [[soldier argument]] or [[tribal identity marker]].
+However: Even if the media were, in fact, biased towards liberal ideas, it's not clear why anyone, much less [[conservative (US)|conservative]]s who claim to care about the well-being of American society, would feel this is bad for America, as America itself was founded on this and other [[enlightenment|enlightened]] liberal concepts ([[democracy]], [[freedom of speech]], [[freedom of religion]], etc.). The obvious conclusion to draw is that those who wield claims of "liberal media bias" as a form of attack don't really understand what they are saying, and are simply using it as a [[soldier argument]] or [[tribal identity marker]].
 ==Related Pages==
-* The phrase "[[left gatekeepers]]" refers to those in positions of respect or [[authority]] within the [[political left]] who feel it necessary to maintain their establishment connections (and hence their exclusive access to powerful establishment figures) by carefully avoiding or even repudiating any viewpoints which the right-leaning establishment has deemed "too radical".
+* [[Left gatekeepers]] are those in positions of respect or [[authority]] within the [[political left]] who feel it necessary to maintain their establishment connections (and hence their exclusive access to newsworthy establishment figures) by carefully avoiding or even repudiating any viewpoints which the right-leaning establishment has deemed "too radical".
+* [[Liberal media bias]] is a subset of the more general claim of [[liberal bias]].
 ==Links==
 ===Reference===
-* [[Conservapedia]]: {{l/cp|Media bias}} | {{l/cp|Liberal bias}}
+* {{wikipedia}} redirects to {{l/wp|media bias}} as of 2015-01-25
+* {{conservapedia}}
+* {{!in|rationalwiki}}: no information as of 2015-01-25 (but see [[liberal bias]])
 ===Blogs===
 * [http://rightfromtheright.blogspot.com/ Right from the Right] "Created to give example after example of media bias, left wing lies, and the [[political correctness|PC]] world."