Facebook Follies of Friends and Families

[Razgovory]

The most common bias is focusing on stories that cost little to produce yet generate higher ad revenue. 

[DGuller]

I think saying that most of the mainstream media (basically everyone excluding the right-wing propaganda outfits) does not have at least some liberal bias is overegging the pudding a little.  There are definitely issues that are not reported on in a balanced way. 

You don't have to lie to be biased, you merely have to be selective in reporting.  If you spend 90% of the time talking about things that happen 10% of the time, reasonable listeners might unconsciously come to a conclusion that this 10% event is par for the course.  As a result, nuanced understanding of the issue is lost, since the media is not providing the proper balance of information for people to reach properly balanced conclusions.

[Razgovory]

I think saying that most of the mainstream media (basically everyone excluding the right-wing propaganda outfits) does not have at least some liberal bias is overegging the pudding a little.  There are definitely issues that are not reported on in a balanced way. 

You don't have to lie to be biased, you merely have to be selective in reporting.  If you spend 90% of the time talking about things that happen 10% of the time, reasonable listeners might unconsciously come to a conclusion that this 10% event is par for the course.  As a result, nuanced understanding of the issue is lost, since the media is not providing the proper balance of information for people to reach properly balanced conclusions.

If you exclude right-wing sources then it would look like there are no mainstream conservative outlets.

[Josquius]

I think saying that most of the mainstream media (basically everyone excluding the right-wing propaganda outfits) does not have at least some liberal bias is overegging the pudding a little.  There are definitely issues that are not reported on in a balanced way. 

You don't have to lie to be biased, you merely have to be selective in reporting.  If you spend 90% of the time talking about things that happen 10% of the time, reasonable listeners might unconsciously come to a conclusion that this 10% event is par for the course.  As a result, nuanced understanding of the issue is lost, since the media is not providing the proper balance of information for people to reach properly balanced conclusions.

Equally they have some conservative bias in over egging antifa, really weird LGBT++ niche people demanding daft things, etc...

The media in general, excluding those with overt political leanings, has a pro sensation bias no matter which way it blows.

It's notable that the more grown up and less sensationalist media outlets do seem to lean left... But that's largely because the right has given itself over to utter fuck wittery these days, denying reality itself. When the divide is dull centrists on the left and conspiracy theorist crypto fascists ruling the right then the right is going to get the sharp end of the reality stick as long as the Conservatives keep making common cause with the crazies

[DGuller]

Equally they have some conservative bias in over egging antifa, really weird LGBT++ niche people demanding daft things, etc...

No, not equally.  The right wing propaganda outlets may employ the same tactics to create bias, but they employ them more aggressively, and they also employ other tactics that are unique to them.

[Barrister]

Exhibit 1 of left wing media bias:

[crazy canuck]

Coverage of the Republican convention should have started sooner?

[Razgovory]

That's one company and one story.  It's also not incorrect.

[Jacob]

Exhibit 1 of left wing media bias:

Is it left wing bias because the headline says "mostly peaceful" when there are fires in the background from the obviously excessive rioting?

Or is it right wing bias because they choose a background on fire suggesting utter chaos when the protests were mostly peaceful?

Is it right wing bias to focus on the bad actions of a subset of protestors rather than the repeated excess of police officers apparently beyond reach for any consequences unless there are literal riots?

Or is it left wing bias to imply that riots is the only way that "bad egg" police officers will ever be held to account?

... I don't think incongruence between a headline and a backdrop is particularly clear evidence of a particular bias.

[Razgovory]

"Liberal media bias" is and has always been a political strategy by conservatives.  I think it started in the Nixon administration as a way to deflect criticism of the war in Vietnam and later Watergate.

[DGuller]

"Liberal media bias" is and has always been a political strategy by conservatives.  I think it started in the Nixon administration as a way to deflect criticism of the war in Vietnam and later Watergate.

Just because it's a political strategy doesn't mean there is no substance behind it.  Hitting Trump on his Covid response was a political strategy in 2020, but that doesn't mean that his response wasn't in fact abysmal.

[Barrister]

Coverage of the Republican convention should have started sooner?

This was in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, which led to widespread protests in the summer of 2020 over racial justice.  It was noted by many that the MSM A: did not criticize the protestors for violating public health orders, and B: minimized the amount of damage/violence that occurred in some locations, since the cause of the protestors was just.


And it talking about liberal bias, it's not that it's malicious or even intentional.  But at these national media companies, they're run out of big cities, and the employees are all university graduates, often of large prestigious schools.  Just the natural demographics of what I just described mean the employees are going to be liberal/progressive types.  CNN is not staffing itself from community college graduates from the midwest.

As they say - "fish don't know they're wet".

[Barrister]

Exhibit 1 of left wing media bias:

Is it left wing bias because the headline says "mostly peaceful" when there are fires in the background from the obviously excessive rioting?

Or is it right wing bias because they choose a background on fire suggesting utter chaos when the protests were mostly peaceful?

Is it right wing bias to focus on the bad actions of a subset of protestors rather than the repeated excess of police officers apparently beyond reach for any consequences unless there are literal riots?

Or is it left wing bias to imply that riots is the only way that "bad egg" police officers will ever be held to account?

... I don't think incongruence between a headline and a backdrop is particularly clear evidence of a particular bias.

It's often said of the news - "If it bleeds, it leads".

The news story here isn't the peaceful protesters - it's the rioting.  It's the entire reason that CNN went to Kenosha, Wisconsin in the first place.  There were lots of peaceful protests around the country that weren't covered by CNN.

Put another way - if there's a school shooting, you don't put up a news chyron saying "deadly school shooting, but otherwise peaceful day for most students".

The presumed good faith reasoning though of the chyron writer though was - the protestors have a very valid point, so I want to minimize as much as I can the violence that's going on in order to not take away from that valid point.  And the bias shows through in that nobody else in CNN realized why that particular news chyron was so ridiculous.

[crazy canuck]

Coverage of the Republican convention should have started sooner?

This was in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, which led to widespread protests in the summer of 2020 over racial justice.  It was noted by many that the MSM A: did not criticize the protestors for violating public health orders, and B: minimized the amount of damage/violence that occurred in some locations, since the cause of the protestors was just.


And it talking about liberal bias, it's not that it's malicious or even intentional.  But at these national media companies, they're run out of big cities, and the employees are all university graduates, often of large prestigious schools.  Just the natural demographics of what I just described mean the employees are going to be liberal/progressive types.  CNN is not staffing itself from community college graduates from the midwest.

As they say - "fish don't know they're wet".

Well I thought it was a funny comment to make.  Oh well.

[Malthus]

Coverage of the Republican convention should have started sooner?

This was in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, which led to widespread protests in the summer of 2020 over racial justice.  It was noted by many that the MSM A: did not criticize the protestors for violating public health orders, and B: minimized the amount of damage/violence that occurred in some locations, since the cause of the protestors was just.


And it talking about liberal bias, it's not that it's malicious or even intentional.  But at these national media companies, they're run out of big cities, and the employees are all university graduates, often of large prestigious schools.  Just the natural demographics of what I just described mean the employees are going to be liberal/progressive types.  CNN is not staffing itself from community college graduates from the midwest.

As they say - "fish don't know they're wet".

To my mind, the issue isn't one of bias. Everyone without exception has their biases - depending on background, upbringing, experiences, etc.

However, I do not believe these factors are totally determinative of outcomes (and in this, I differ from both some progressives, and some conservatives!). The issue is this: can individuals, despite whatever biases they may have, report accurately and without introducing so much distortion that the news as reported by them becomes misleading?

Some can and some can't. Unfortunately, those on the right, who complain the most loudly about "liberal bias" in the media, sought to correct that perceived problem by creating news sources of their own from a right wing POV. This is not inherently problematic (as noted, having a bias isn't in and of itself problematic). However, in most cases, these media sources engaged in more or less deliberate distortion.