There are a lot of liberals in the media. I know this firsthand because I used to be in the newspaper business and I worked with a lot of knee-jerk liberals. They’re nice people; fun to hang out with, great to party with, but you don’t want to start a political conversation with them or they’ll bite your head off.
I probably needed my head bitten off. For a long time I was a knee-jerk conservative, and when you put all us knee-jerk types in a room together you don’t get the best vibes. Knee-jerk anything, no matter what your political stripe, isn’t good. At first, the discussion begins with what you believe. But because it’s a knee-jerk belief (in other words, it’s a reflex, but there’s not a lot of depth to it) you can’t really get into why you believe what you do, or why it’s good to believe what you do; all you can do is say that you believe it. Loudly. And then it’s all downhill from there. Because when you can’t defend your position, the only debate tactic you have going for you is that your opponent is just as clueless as you are. Pretty soon you’re not debating the merits of your belief; you’re arguing about who’s stupider.
So why are there all these liberals in the media? Good question; I’m glad I asked it. It’s because they want to change the world. They look at the world and don’t like how it is. What’s the solution? One of three:
- Become a politician and fix it.
- Rile up the public and get them to fix it.
- Get a lot of money and fix it yourself.
Option 1 appeals to anyone who doesn’t mind a little glad-handing and butt-kissing. That leaves out a lot of us; which leaves us only options 2 and 3. Option 2 appeals to your average liberal. Option 3 appeals to your average conservative. So liberals try to rile up the public through the press; and conservatives try to fix it themselves through private enterprise.
This is an over-generalization. Of course, there are exceptions. Like me; I was a knee-jerk conservative who preferred option 2. There are lots of knee-jerk liberals who likewise have no problem trying to get things done through private enterprise. But for the most part, my over-generalization is pretty frequently found. And this is why we find so many liberals in the media.
This is also why you’re going to find a slight liberal media bias. I say slight because the liberal reporters are frequently balanced out by conservative editors and publishers. Remember all those conservatives who prefer option 3? One of the possible ways that option 3 can manifest itself is through buying a newspaper, or a TV or radio station. Consequently most of the media in this country is owned by conservatives and run by liberals. It’s wacky, but it keeps things pretty balanced.
Is there media bias? Of course there is. All media is biased. Face it; if a reporter didn’t think something was important, the reporter wouldn’t write about it. If the editor didn’t agree, the editor wouldn’t put the story in the paper. Everyone has a bias; and if you’re honest you’ll admit it. Not everyone is honest enough to admit which political direction it leans. Both liberals and conservatives are pretending to be unbiased moderates, which is a load of crap. Everyone knows Dan Rather and Chris Matthews are leftists; everyone knows Brit Hume and Bill O’Reilly are rightists. They’re not fooling anyone. They should just admit it and get back to reporting the news (or interviewing politicians who want TV face time).
As for the people who spend their time bellyaching about the liberal media—if you don’t like it, fix it. Join up. Write for a newspaper. Start one. Become the media. Just don’t try to pass yourself off as an unbiased moderate; there are enough hypocrites in the news business, and we don’t need more.