Is There A Liberal Media Bias In Election 2012 Campaign Coverage?

MONTPELIER, Vt., Aug. 7, 2012 — /PRNewswire-iReach/ —  The 4^th Estate Project (4thestate.net), has released a new infographic showing that coverage of the 2012 presidential election is biased toward Republicans, even in outlets traditionally considered part of the “liberal media.”

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120807/CG52261-INFO)

It is often stated that impartiality is a core value of modern American journalism, what some commentators refer to as the “View from Nowhere.”  This bedrock tenet of journalism has led to a consistent refrain that impartiality is routinely violated by a journalist corps whose personal beliefs affect their work, resulting in media bias.  The belief in this media bias has almost become cultural gospel.  It is a tried and true strategy to periodically complain about this bias in what author Eric Alterman refers to as “working the refs.”   Just today, Mitt Romney decided now was a good time to use this gambit during an interview with Fox News.

The subject of media bias, and particularly liberal bias, has been a central theme of political maneuvering for decades. Conservatives often claim that media gatekeepers freeze out conservative ideas and have an ingrained slant toward liberal perspectives. “The myth of the liberal media empowers conservatives to control debate in the United States to the point where liberals cannot even hope for a fair shake anymore,” says Eric Alterman.

The infographic released today by The 4^th Estate indicates that this conservative strategy is succeeding. “Our data clearly shows that if the mainstream media does have a liberal bias, that bias isn’t manifesting itself in the current campaign,” says Max Krieg, a 4^th Estate Strategic Media Analyst. “In fact, the data shows that Republicans are quoted 44% more than Democrats, and the coverage of Mitt Romney is significantly less negative than coverage of Barack Obama.”

“Our technology can measure biases across different topics, media outlets, and journalists,” says Michael Howe,  The 4^th Estate’s Chief Technology Officer. “The 4^th Estate is the first system to be able to methodically and quantitatively track, monitor, and measure in real-time the key data points in this debate, specifically the quantitative measurement of quotes

You can read the rest of this article at:: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/07/4700642/is-there-a-liberal-media-bias.html

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Posted by RobertButler on Aug 8 2012. Filed under 2012 Presidential Campaign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry