[/caption]Common Cause declares that the inability of the media to provide diverse viewpoints and to provide information without bias is undermining the country and making it difficult for a serious democracy. Newt Gingrich recently declared the media to be the “liberal elite.” But is the media truly biased, and who is the "elite media?"
A Harvard study examined the media and how it may be influenced by politics and exacerbating the gridlock. To do this researchers examined five online news sources that included wire service, cable news and blog sites to evaluate potential bias in how news is selected. In other words, media sites receive press releases or specific news information from wire services and information from direct sources and can screen in or out what news is provided to the public. Furthermore, media outlets decide what specific areas of the news to report and which ones to eliminate. This is part of what is called the “gate-keeping” process.
The study looked at the media outlets reporting four months before and three weeks after the 2006 elections. The examination found that the wire services provided more traditional news material, directly sourced, and with less bias than the other sources that included cable news and web-based information. They analyzed news content from five websites: DailyKos.com, a site considered liberal, FreeRepublic.com, considered to represent conservative thought, Fox News, accused by liberals of being specifically oriented towards the conservative view, and the wire services that included the Associated Press, U.S. based, and Reuters.com, based in the United Kingdom.
Researchers found Reuters less politically biased than the others, followed by the Associated Press. Both appeared to bring news to the public in the traditional ways. Web-based news was found to be specifically oriented to niche audiences, partisanship is one of the key lines of demarcation allowing websites to attract a specific, loyal group. In 2006 the Pew Forum found that only 12% of those seeking news turn to non-traditional news sources for it.
Despite the fact there is more bias in independent sources, there is considerable disagreement as to the severity and degree of that bias. Media watchdog groups that include the Media Research Center (MRC), the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA), and Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) all say they are objective in analyzing media content, yet they disagree on whether the media is biased and if so in what direction. Bloggers overall were seen to be more politically oriented than other news sites, especially traditional ones, and to rely more on politics and political discussions than others.
Recent news from the Associated Press reports the meeting of Newt Gingrich with Donald Trump. The AP press wire is reproduced in the Christian Science Monitor in an article entitled, "Newt Gingrich meets with Donald Trump, begins first ad in Iowa." The article goes on to highlight the details of the meeting and ends by observing Dan Quayle has endorsed Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney as evidence that Romney is being supported by those in the more traditional wing of the Republican Party.
Newser describes itself as a "news curator with a kick. Our editors hand-pick the best stories from hundreds of U.S. and International sources and summarize them into sharply written, easy-to-digest news briefs." Newser also has a strong citizen journalism component where anyone with a pen, an attitude and the interest in writing (or rewriting by paraphrase) news stories can do so and have an audience of readers as well. In this case Newser has its own orientation with the story entitled, "Insistent on role in GOP nomination, Trump meets with Gingrich and schedules Iowa debate." The article ends with the reference made by Ron Paul to Donald Trump's hosting of a Republican debate that includes Gingrich, "I didn't know he had the ability to lay on hands and anoint people."
The Internet is rife with the back-and-forth tirades about the "liberal elite media," with the conservatives shouting the words in the condemnation of the press and the liberal side maintaining the press is conservative as well. Yet what research has found is that the media is diverse, politically biased, and the degree and intention of it varies. The citizen side of the news, the ones often occupied by those who purport to know the true needs and wishes of the people, maintain they can give the real facts. A blog entitled "sadbastards" tells us with its massive headline, "The end of elite liberal media empires and the rise of citizen journalism" with its lead story one about John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer, informing readers in bold title that Gacy was a Democrat.
