A bunch of researchers at UCLA have finally figured out what the rest of us have known all along: The mainstream media is biased toward the left. This is supposedly the first study on the issue of media bias to actually come to an objective conclusion based on verifiable, duplicable results. I look forward to the release of the full report in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which I suspect will be sometime this week.

For all of you who think that this is unimportant and that the impact of this bias is negligible, I challenge you to prove it. The media covers important issues and is largely in control of the release of facts to the general population. If those facts are twisted or if important information is left out, or if assumptions are made, we see lasting results. Add to that the fact the the MSM is unwilling to admit openly when it makes a mistake (the Killian memos are a prime example, as is the Al Durah Affair) and you will be hard-pressed to prove that the media's bias is unimportant.

We need unbiased news reports in this world. I know that reporters all have their own ideas and opinions, but the whole idea of being a journalist is to study how to submit the facts for the public's digestion, not studying how to prove to the world that your opinion is the right one. If you want to express your opinion on something, get yourself a radio talk show and leave the journalism to those who strive to be unbiased reporters of the facts.

Labels: Politics