The Rightward Press
Nov 26, 2002)
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, December 6, 2002; Page A45
The fat is in the fire on the issue of media bias, and that is a good
thing. It's time to revisit a matter on which the conventional wisdom is,
roughly, 180 degrees off.
You hear the conventional wisdom all the time from shrewd conservative
commentators who understand that political pressure, relentlessly applied,
usually achieves its purposes. They have sold the view that the media are
dominated by liberals and that the news is skewed against conservatives.
This belief fueled the construction of a large network of conservative
institutions -- especially on radio and cable television -- that provides
conservative viewpoints close to 24 hours a day. Conservatives argued that
hopelessly left-wing establishment news sources needed to be balanced by
brave, relentless voices from the right.
But the continuing attacks on mainstream journalists have another effect.
Because the drumbeat of conservative press criticism has been so steady,
the establishment press has internalized it. Editors and network executives
are far more likely to hear complaints from the right than from the left.
To the extent that there has been a bias in the establishment media, it has
been less a liberal tilt than a preference for the values of the educated,
professional class -- which, surprise, surprise, is roughly the class
position of most journalists.
This meant that on social and cultural issues -- abortion and religion come
to mind -- journalism was not particularly hospitable to conservative
voices. But on economic issues -- especially free trade and balanced
budgets -- the press tilted toward the center or even toward moderate
conservatism. You might say that the two groups most likely to be
mistreated by the media were religious conservatives and trade unionists.
But even that view is out of date, because the definition of "media"
commonly used in judging these matters is faulty. And that's why you are
beginning to hear liberals and Democrats make a new argument. Earlier this
week, former president Bill Clinton contrasted what he called an
"increasingly right-wing and bellicose conservative press" with "an
increasingly docile establishment press." A couple of weeks back, Senate
Democratic Leader Tom Daschle lashed out at radio talk show host Rush
Limbaugh. He said Limbaugh's attacks were so "shrill" that "the threats
against those of us in public life go up dramatically, against us and
against our families."
Note the response of the so-called liberal media. Rather than join an
outcry against Limbaugh, the establishment commentary was mostly aimed
against Daschle and picked up the conservative cry that he was "whining."
Limbaugh was invited for lengthy and respectful interviews on CNN's
"Reliable Sources" and Tim Russert's show on CNBC.
Now, television hosts are free to invite anyone they wish (they've even had
me on), and cable networks long for a piece of Limbaugh's large audience.
But that is the point: Limbaugh's new respectability is the surest sign
that the conservative talk network is now bleeding into what passes for the
mainstream media, just as the unapologetic conservatism of the Fox News
Channel is now affecting programming on the other cable networks. This
shift to the right is occurring as cable becomes a steadily more important
source of news.
All this constitutes a genuine triumph for conservatives. But rather than
rest on their laurels, they continue to pound away at any media deviation
from their version of political correctness. When Katie Couric had the
nerve to ask some tough questions of EPA Administrator Christine Todd
Whitman on Monday's "Today" show, the ever-alert conservative Media
Research Center trashed Couric for bias. When the Chicago Tribune ran an
unflattering picture of President Bush on its Nov. 14 front page, it was
assailed for a lack of patriotism. Editors who worry about conservative
criticism are not paranoid. You just wonder: Where have the liberals been?
It took conservatives a lot of hard and steady work to push the media
rightward. It dishonors that work to continue to presume that -- except for
a few liberal columnists -- there is any such thing as the big liberal
media. The media world now includes (1) talk radio, (2) cable television
and (3) the traditional news sources (newspapers, newsmagazines and the old
broadcast networks). Two of these three major institutions tilt well to the
right, and the third is under constant pressure to avoid even the pale hint
of liberalism. These institutions, in turn, influence the burgeoning world
of online news and commentary.
What it adds up to is a media heavily biased toward conservative politics
and conservative politicians. Kudos to the right. Now, what will the rest
of us do about the new bias?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16431-2002Dec5.html
Finally, someone tells it like it is!
I have to thank Mr. Dionne for his column on the truth of media bias. I'd
like to add another point. - the rise of the commentator over...
Add your commentator.
