The Sun Rises In The East

That this recent Gallup poll finds, “that only 9% of Americans say they have a great deal of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news ‘fully, accurately, and fairly,’ “ is about as surprising as a similar percentage might not believe the sun rises in the East.

That, “Nearly half of Americans -- including over three-quarters of Republicans -- perceive the media as too liberal while fewer than one in five say the media are too conservative,” is similarly not surprising. Study after study has found the overwhelming liberal orientation of most journalists, particularly at the national level.

This excerpt from Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz' new book, for example, says how national TV anchors shaped Iraq coverage:

By training their powerful spotlight on the chaos gripping Iraq, the anchors were arguably contributing to the political downfall of a president who had seemed to be riding high when he won his second term.

Through the routine decisions of daily journalism -- how prominently to play a story, what pictures to use, what voices to include -- the newscasts were sending an unmistakable message. And the message was that George W. Bush's war was a debacle. Administration officials regularly complained about the coverage as unduly negative, but to little avail. Other news organizations chronicled the deteriorating situation as well, but with a combined 25 million viewers, the evening newscasts had the biggest megaphone….

They were, to be sure, reflecting the rapid erosion of support for the war, and a level of killing and chaos that seemed to grow worse by the day. But given their huge platform, they were also shaping public sentiment, reinforcing the notion that nearly four years after the invasion, the situation was all but lost.

That those quoted are a self-described Vietnam protestor, or liberal, of course, might have something to do with their reporting choices about Iraq.

Other national TV journalists recently exposed their bias in favor of “bad” news from Iraq.

American Thinker’s Randall Hoven writes that, “Media Dishonesty Matters,” in listing 101 specific significant cases of “false and misleading information,” with links, from the past several decades. Read and save as a handy reference. From the Gallup poll, it appears most Americans have mentally clipped and saved.