Left Wing Media

RandFan

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RandFan
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There is an ongoing debate about whether Network News and the Majority of print journalism is biased to the left of the political spectrum. I personally think it is but I find proving the notion problematic.

In any event, this thread is about popular culture in the Media. Are the messages that are found on Television and at the Box office significantly skewed to the left?

Aren't Republicans always the bad guys (The West Wing / Dave / The American President ), or if not the bad guys then republicans must be bumbling (Spin City).

I should point out that I think comedy (SNL / MadTV / Daily Show)does an admirable job of equal opurtunity.

If talk radio and cable news is conservative could it be that it is because there are few if any real positive images of those on the right in popular culture?

For what it is worth I am not attacking popular culture nor do I feel there needs be any censorship. I'm only interested in what seems apparent to me. Am I right?
 
RandFan said:
There is an ongoing debate about whether Network News and the Majority of print journalism is biased to the left of the political spectrum. I personally think it is but I find proving the notion problematic.
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I posted a link to a survey yesterday PEW conducted and it was ignored. Here's the whole short article. RandFan, I'll think you'll find it interesting.

From... http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000517184

Pew Survey Finds Moderates, Liberals Dominate News Outlets
Aya Kawano

By E&P Staff

Published: May 23, 2004 4:00 PM EST

NEW YORK Those convinced that liberals make up a disproportionate share of newsroom workers have long relied on Pew Research Center surveys to confirm this view, and they will not be disappointed by the results of Pew's latest study released today.

While most of the journalists, like many Americans, describe themselves as "moderate," a far higher number are "liberal" than in the general population.

At national organizations (which includes print, TV and radio), the numbers break down like this: 34% liberal, 7% conservative. At local outlets: 23% liberal, 12% conservative. At Web sites: 27% call themselves liberals, 13% conservatives.

This contrasts with the self-assessment of the general public: 20% liberal, 33% conservative.

The survey of 547 media professionals, completed this spring, is part of an important study released today by The Project for Excellence in Journalism and The Committee of Concerned Journalists, which mainly concerns more general issues related to newsrooms (an E&P summary will appear Monday).

While it's important to remember that most journalists in this survey continue to call themselves moderate, the ranks of self-described liberals have grown in recent years, according to Pew. For example, since 1995, Pew found at national outlets that the liberal segment has climbed from 22% to 34% while conservatives have only inched up from 5% to 7%.

The survey also revealed what some are sure to label a "values" gap. According to Pew, about 60% of the general public believes it is necessary to believe in God to be a truly moral person. The new survey finds that less than 15% of those who work at news outlets believe that. About half the general public believes homosexuality should be accepted by society -- but about 80% of journalists feel that way.

When the question of which news organizations actually tilted left or right, there was one clear candidate: Fox News. Fully 69% of national journalists, and 42% of those at the local level, called Fox News "especially conservative." Next up was The New York Times, which about one in five labeled "especially liberal."

Not surprisingly, views of how the press has treated President Bush break down along partisan lines. More than two out of three liberals feel the press has not been tough enough on Bush, while half the conservatives feel the media has been too tough.

Still, a little over half of national journalists (53%) give national media coverage of the administration an A or B rating.

While the sample of 547 interviewees is not large, Pew says that this selection represents "a cross-section of news organizations and of the people working at all levels of those organizations." Newspapers were identified and circulation ranked using the 2003 Editor & Publisher International Year Book.

In an essay accompanying the survey, the directors of the sponsoring groups -- Bill Kovach, Tom Rosenstiel and Amy Mitchell --declare that broad conclusions about the political findings should be tempered by analyzing some of the details in the findings. For example, they identify strong "libertarian" leanings among journalists, including doubts about the role of "big government."
 
RandFan said:
If talk radio and cable news is conservative could it be that it is because there are few if any real positive images of those on the right in popular culture?
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Perhaps there is nothing positive about those on the right? :D
 
I think there are a couple things in play, here.

First is that people like to think that every time they see/hear/read something in the media that they don't like, it's because the media's biased against them. It prevents them from confronting uncomfortable stories on their own. It's a bit of a "safety net."

Second is a simple case of "Remembering the hits, forgetting the misses." People will remember things that really tick 'em off more than stories that don't appear biased--to them. It's important to remember the appearance of "bias" is very much in the eye of the beholder.

Now, is the media biased? Could be. Many people with a conservative bent like to cite studies indicating most journalists tend to vote Democratic. Of course, journalists are only a relatively small cog in the media machine; there are editors, publishers, producers, managers, etc.

Media corporations, like all for-profit companies, are primarily motivated by money. They're going to adjust themselves to appeal to a certain market, usually one as broad as possible. They're also going to adjust message to make sure that they're not annoying powerful people; they want to be able to get stories, and they're going to lose out to competition if the subjects are uncooperative.

So I think what you'll see is that media corporations tend (as in, not universally true in every single case, but an overall tendency) to try to please the most people at the most time. Which is not to say there isn't an underlying bias, but it's near impossible to make an objective, qualitative analysis and be able to say for sure--because the entire question of bias, as I said, is very much subjective.
 
Cleon said:
So I think what you'll see is that media corporations tend (as in, not universally true in every single case, but an overall tendency) to try to please the most people at the most time. Which is not to say there isn't an underlying bias, but it's near impossible to make an objective, qualitative analysis and be able to say for sure--because the entire question of bias, as I said, is very much subjective.
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Good post. Could you cite an example like Dave or the American President where the Democrats are the bad guys and the Republicans are the good guys?

I think my problem is the dearth of movies or television shows that are clearly to the right of the spectrum and plethora of movies and television shows that are clearly to the left of the spectrum.

If you were correct then it would seem that someone from the opposite side of the political spectrum would be able to give a number of examples since there "hits" would be different than mine.
 
RandFan said:
Good post. Could you cite an example like Dave or the American President where the Democrats are the bad guys and the Republicans are the good guys?
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Not off the top of my head, because my taste in movies/shows are geekier in nature. :) (Although Godzilla did have a very pronounced anti-nuke message.)

But I think generally speaking, there are shows with some degree conservative viewpoint. Law and Order, for example. Spinoffs included. Very much into "personal responsibility" rhetoric, and I recently saw an episode of SVU that was very unfriendly to abortion rights. I would say that "Air Force One" was very right-of-center. Starship Troopers, though that could be debatable (long story). War movies are very much not into liberal philosophy.

That's just the stuff I pulled out of a small, dark, smelly cavity. I don't typically study or look for this stuff. As I said, stuff like "the American President" and "Dave" aren't in my DVD cabinet. :) (I don't think I've even seen "American President.")

But if you're looking for conservative slant, look at war movies/shows (with the exception of M*A*S*H, obviously), cop shows, that sort of thing.
 
Scot C. Trypal said:
I don’t remember it too well but wouldn’t Primary Colors fit the bill?
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What about Wag The Dog? I don't remember if they named which party the fictional President was a member of, but it seemed pretty aparent at the time they were talking about Clinton. 1997, and all.
 
Action movies are almost entirely Conservative. Because everything is solved by the means of violence.

If you want a bleeding heart movie without getting religious you pretty much have to make a 'liberal' movie.

I'd say the same is with comedies. The good guy has to be the wild-card and the bad guy is a predictable meanie. An iron-willed person, good or bad, is certainly more of an conservative person than liberal.


As far as the media goes...

Since being non-judgemental seems to be more and more of an liberal trait, then media must be more and more liberal source. Since they just report the news.

Btw, Love Actually pokes fun at both Clintonisque and Bushist presdency.
 
daenku32 said:
Action movies are almost entirely Conservative. Because everything is solved by the means of violence.
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This is dumb. "Liberals" are just as likely to resort to violence to solve problems as conservatives.
 
Cleon said:
I think there are a couple things in play, here.

First is that people like to think that every time they see/hear/read something in the media that they don't like, it's because the media's biased against them. It prevents them from confronting uncomfortable stories on their own. It's a bit of a "safety net."
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Exactly Cleon. I read my local paper (Dallas Morning News) every day. It seems for the last 2 or 3 months, in the letters to editor section, you get 2 types of letters in this vein. One accuses the newspaper of being liberal or left bias (and threatening to cancel subscription), the other is the conservative bias. It's really a dichotomy.

Me, being somewhat left of center sees a conservative bias (notwithstanding Doonesbury in the editorial section).

Charlie (their editorial cartoonish sucks big time) Monoxide
 
Scot C. Trypal said:
I don’t remember it too well but wouldn’t Primary Colors fit the bill?
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Primary Colors and Wag the Dog were mentioned in the news article. I haven't seen Wag the Dog but I don't know how much Primary Colors qualifies. In the end the President triumphs and is shown to be a good and caring person fighting the evil Republicans. While mhe movie exposes his (ostensibly Clinton's) flaws it paints him as a man worthy of empathy and redeeming. (Which I think it should)
 
In addition to self reported affiliations, and editorial biases, there is also the nature of the business, which is to sell more copies, tickets, ads, etc.

That overrides everything else in the industry, and the tried and true method of generating more 'interest, and more sales is to sensationalize, stir up, provoke, and so forth.

'If it bleeds it leads', isn't just a phrase...media outlets that tried to buck the trend by ignoring that approach have left their carcasses on the side of the road (Grit and the top rated TV station in Orlando Florida come to mind).

Whatever market there is out there for examining the status quo uncritically, and focusing on mundane life events, is probably over saturated by Reader's Digest.

For the rest of the media, unless cops and teachers and rescue squad workers, and blue collar laborers, et al. are taking off their clothes, or killing someone, a favorite, and logical role for them is to be ridiculed.
 
Charlie Monoxide said:

Exactly Cleon. I read my local paper (Dallas Morning News) every day. It seems for the last 2 or 3 months, in the letters to editor section, you get 2 types of letters in this vein. One accuses the newspaper of being liberal or left bias (and threatening to cancel subscription), the other is the conservative bias. It's really a dichotomy.

Me, being somewhat left of center sees a conservative bias (notwithstanding Doonesbury in the editorial section).

Charlie (their editorial cartoonish sucks big time) Monoxide
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Looks like we got your attention. :)

Thanks for the response.

RandFan
 
You mention the West Wing and the American President, both of which were created by the same person.




But I think there are films on both sides of the spectrum. I remember Hanoi Hilton as being one that seemed to elevate politics over the human story, and made lefties look like the evil or stupid pawns of the communists.

But as far as going right for the democrats, I'm kind of stumped.

However I don't think hollywood works like that. I think there are innumerable right-leaning films, they just don't tend to be white-house political dramas.

Right-leaning films tend to be about war, like "We Were Soldiers", Rambo, Red Dawn, etc, or about people taking on the criminals when failed by the system, "Death Wish", etc. Or films where sexual politics are turned on their head, like anti-feminist films "Fatal Attraction", "Disclosure", etc. Then there's the good ol' Religious dramas.

I'd argue that just about every action film made is right wing, in that they are all about the lone individual with gun rights taking on the system.

You can't have a collectivist action movie.

(Well, mabe Potemkin!)
 
By circulation, more papers endorsed Bush over Gore. I think it was 52% endorsed Bush.

I will agree that the majority of entertainment does seem to favor liberals than conservatives.

Lurker
 
I'm not sure that it does.

I'm going to bet that a lot of sitcoms are pretty conservative. For every Will & Grace we get a few Raymonds, King of Queens, etc.


Of course, the really raunchy, anything goes, trashy violent and off-color stuff is all on Fox, so go figure!
 
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