Labels are a mixed bag when you get right down to it. The problem with using labels is that they often contort what the real issue is. When you label something or someone, the response by those that perceive the label, or even that which is being labeled, is often formed by their ideas of what that label represents.
For example, if I self-identify as a Christian, that label will get many responses. Someone who has had many negative encounters with Christians may perceive me as being a self-righteous, uptight, meddling, puritannical pain-in-the-ass, even if they know nothing about me. On the other hand, someone who has had positive encounters with Christians may think of me as an upstanding and honest citizen ready to help the community. Simply stated, it is a matter of perception.
So what does this have to do with the media and it’s liberal bias? Everything actually. The problem is that people focus too much on the liberal and not enough on the bias. See, the underlying problem I have with the media is not that they are predominantly liberal, I actually see that as an irrelevant point. However, that descriptor puts liberals on the defensive because when you start talking about “liberal bias”, you sound as though you are attacking a point of view. In some cases, that is actually true.
The mainstream media being liberal is not really hurting them, I think it’s the constant denial that they have a bias, liberal or otherwise, that is hurting them. They claim to be objective, but their accounts often omit or change facts that we might hear from people who are closer to the incidents they report. The world has shrunk considerably. Too often real people on the ground can substantiate or contradict news reports. We are finding that the news media is not giving us the whole story, and this is only getting worse as more people find themselves able to get the word out on their own.
The Opinionated Bastard had some good comments about responsibility in news journalism. His own take closely mirrors my encounters with the news media when I was still in law enforcement. Sensationalism has replaced integrity. We cannot rely on them to give us the facts, and the general public is becoming increasingly aware of it. Fox News, with it’s own bias, is too often reporting stories and facts we don’t see elsewhere. A major news organization is out there contradicting the stories of the old news dinosaurs. What does that say?
The news media would actually do a better job of just admitting its bias up front. That would help their readers gain perspective on the stories they report. Right now they claim objectivity, but readers aren’t buying it. On the other hand, so-called “Pajamas media” on the Internet are much more transparent of their bias. I may not always share another person’s point of view, but I much prefer it when they are honest with me about it.
Or perhaps it would be a big headstart if the mainstream media quit acting like it is their mission to tell us how the world is, just reported the facts, and let people decide for themselves. The constant drumbeat of “the public is too dumb to think for themselves” is likely the root of their problems.
