Objectivity in news reporting has been shown to be a farce by a recent study. UCLA researchers mapped quantified ADA Congressional voting records against the number of times liberal/conservative think tanks and policy groups were cited in Congressional speeches, and also cited in major news outlets. The results?
UCLA News: Media bias is real, finds UCLA political scientist
While the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is conservative, the newspaper’s news pages are liberal, even more liberal than The New York Times. The Drudge Report may have a right-wing reputation, but it leans left. Coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media. Meanwhile, almost all major media outlets tilt to the left.
These are just a few of the surprising findings from a UCLA-led study, which is believed to be the first successful attempt at objectively quantifying bias in a range of media outlets and ranking them accordingly.
“I suspected that many media outlets would tilt to the left because surveys have shown that reporters tend to vote more Democrat than Republican,” said Tim Groseclose, a UCLA political scientist and the study’s lead author. “But I was surprised at just how pronounced the distinctions are.”
… Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS’ “Evening News,” The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.
Only Fox News’ “Special Report With Brit Hume” and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter.
Most centrist news sources:
- “NewsHour With Jim Lehrer”
- ABC’s “Good Morning America”
- CNN’s “NewsNight With Aaron Brown”
- Fox News’ “Special Report With Brit Hume”
- USA Today
News sources more than 70% liberal:
- Wall Street Journal
- CBS’ “Evening News”
- The New York Times
Other liberal news sources:
- ABC’s “World News Tonight”
- CBS’ “Early Show”
- Drudge Report
- NBC’s “Nightly News”
- NBC’s “Today Show”
- Newsweek
- NPR
- NPR’s “Morning Edition”
- Time
- US News and World Report
- USA Today
- Washington Post
