Conservative / Liberal

[JohnCU]

We are working on political stuff in English and are beginning to look at sites/television networks/magazines to determine if they are left or right.

Now, so what makes a site or paper or something conservative or liberal? I mean, you report the news and that is that, facts are facts. News anchors can't eject their own opinion into the newscast, can they?

Like, give me an example of why my teacher might consider FOX News to be conservative...

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: JohnCU
We are working on political stuff in English and are beginning to look at sites/television networks/magazines to determine if they are left or right.

Now, so what makes a site or paper or something conservative or liberal? I mean, you report the news and that is that, facts are facts. News anchors can't eject their own opinion into the newscast, can they?

Like, give me an example of why my teacher might consider FOX News to be conservative...

Sean Hannity. Nuff said. 😉

 

[Queasy]

Its not that facts are facts. It is which facts are presented and how they are presented.

Go check out mrc.org. They track liberal bias in the news media. They give good examples on how things are presented by the likes of CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox.

 

[43st]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Its not that facts are facts. It is which facts are presented and how they are presented.

Go check out mrc.org. They track liberal bias in the news media. They give good examples on how things are presented by the likes of CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox.

MRC.org is a biased agency in itself. Any organization that's set up to expose the "other guy" can't really be seen as a legitimate source.

johnCU...

There's a very popular mistake that get's made when people talk about media and politics. Liberal and Conservative, as many know, is an adjective. It's meant to describe something, not assign a political party to something. For example a person that's a conservative with dish liquid, when washing dishes, has nothing to do with being a Republican.

In the media, if/when you study this in college. Liberal and conservative also have different meanings. If you're studing journalism you'll learn that a liberal story is one that exposes a human side of the story and it's usually a bit more in depth. A conservative article is considered to be "just the facts". This is how the media handles the media with regard to your terminology. Basically watch your local news (often liberal reporting) and compare it to CBS evening news (conservative reporting).

Your question is not really related to how liberal or conservative a news story is per say, it's related to how the media conveys a politcal agenda. Be sure you know the difference between the two.

The only news source that offers both sides of a story is The News Hour on PBS. It's considered to be very conservative reporting. I suggest that you use the News Hour as the benchmark and then watch CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX. You'll quickly pick up their "agenda", which is usually in line with the White House. Also note that this doesn't mean that the news is either Republican or Democratic... they simply follow the White House.

 

[Parrotheader]

It's not always HOW things are covered, but sometimes WHAT is covered and presented as "news" that causes some people to believe there is bias at work. For example, any time an environmental lobbying group (which might be considered extreme by people looking from the the right) releases a study this event will get major coverage whereas any studies or scientists challenging those findings will receive minimial, if any, attention. I personally believe this is the most pervasive form of bias you'll find in the media because it's the least intentional from the journalist's standpoint.

 

[yellowperil]

In some respects I think the News Hour with Jim Lehrer is more neutral because although sometimes it has a slant, it usually argues both sides. Their news summary has a 'just the facts' approach which seems neutral, but they also have the features that take up most of the hour, that often raises criticisms of gov't policy, etc. They also have discussions with both sides of the debate. Can't say I always stay awake through the entire program, but that and the BBC seem to have the best analyses.

 

[flavio]

"The media" is made up of many many individuals some of which are conservative leaning and some of which are liberal leaning.