John Harwood, CNBC's chief Washington Correspondent, admitted this morning "that people who talk about bias in the mainstream press, left of center bias, are not imagining things." He went on to explain, "It has to do with the kind of people who go into journalism, okay? So I'm not arguing with that general notion. I think that those of us in journalism have to do our best to try to present the most objective view we can of what we have, but everybody brings their own filter into it."
Harwood's admission of liberal bias in the media came out during a discussion about the Republican Convention with "Squawk Box" host Joe Kernan at about 6:14am EDT on Wednesday. Kernan pointed out a bit of bias he observed in CNN's coverage of the convention last night when Wolf Blitzer stated "We want you to see, to get a feeling for what it's like to be here whether you agree with what they're saying or not." Kernan pointed out that Blitzer did not say that during the Democratic Convention last week.
Harwood defended Blitzer and CNN, saying "With respect to Wolf and CNN, I think some of that is simply analyzing the audience demographics. If you look at some of the surveys they show that a majority of people who watch CNN are Democrats. And so to that extent, he's talking to the audience"
This isn't the first time Harwood has admitted that the mainstream media is biased to the left. In April 2005 Harwood said during an appearance on "Inside Washington" that ""I believe it is true that a significant chunk of the press believes that Democrats are incompetent but good-hearted, and Republicans are very efficient but evil."
The relevant transcript of the segment is below:
JOE KERNAN: They'll try to put that to rest. I was watching CNN. CNN's been pretty interesting. Wolf asked the question last night and I noticed something, John, Did you notice that Blitzer an anagram of Blitzer is Libzter? Did you ever notice that?
JOHN HARWOOD, Chief Washington correspondent: No.
KERNAN: If you take Blitzer, you can make it "Libzter." Right? Anyway, last night, I've never heard him say this-
HARWOOD: Hey Becky, what can you make an anagram out of Kernan?
KERNAN: Nenrak. Nenrak. No, but last night I heard Wolf and I just watch him, just to get a kick out of the way he approaches a lot of things. We want you to see, to get a feeling for what it's like to be here, whether you agree with what they're saying or not. Now he never said that a single time at the DNC. He can't help himself. The mainstream coverage you, I'm just saying you, necessarily you John, but you can't help yourself, the way you view these things.
HARWOOD: Well, some of - I get what you're saying, and look, I think that people who talk about bias in the mainstream press, left of center bias, are not imagining things.
KERNAN: No.
HARWOOD: It has to do with the kind of people who go into journalism, okay? So I'm not arguing with that general notion. I think those of us in journalism have to do our best to try to present the most objective view we can of what we have -
KERNAN: I agree.
HARWOOD: But everybody brings their own filter into it.
KERNAN: Not me.
HARWOOD: With respect to Wolf and CNN, I think some of that is simply analyzing the audience demographics. If you look at some of the surveys they show that a majority of people who watch CNN are Democrats. And so to that extent, he's talking to the audience--
KERNAN: Exactly.
HARWOOD: -- and saying, you know, whether you agree with it or not.
—Colleen Raezler is a research assistant at the Culture and Media Institute
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
MSM BETRAYAL
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:19 ET by cvgbuckeyeHARWOOD: It has to do with the kind of people who go into journalism, okay? So I'm not arguing with that general notion. I think those of us in journalism have to do our best to try to present the most objective view we can of what we have -
YOU, HARWOOD, AND THE REST ARE TOTAL FAILURES AND YOU ARE DESTROYING A DEMOCRACY!!
absolutely
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:29 ET by CapitalismRulesand they are doing it very efficiently too. The term "slants" to the left or "leans" to the left does not apply to journalism anymore. The term "has collapsed on the side of the left" is acutally more the truth and it has really come out these past 48 hours just in case anyone has had their eyes closed and ears shut in a cave on mars. The rhetoric and hate is no longer confined to opinion shows or daytime TV, it has found its way onto what used to be what we called "the news." It is not about protecting democracy which the 1st amendment specifies, it has abused that power and protection to the point that anything representative of American values is no longer even considered "invalid" it is considered "worthless."
I have related this story
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 11:38 ET by BDI have related this story before, but in my first year of journalism school in 1981, my dean of the journalism school asked the 250 intro to journalism students "How many of you are becoming journalists to 'Change the world'"?
The majority of hands went up.
He then informed the students that journalists are not supposed to "change the world," simply report on it objectively. If you want to change the world, you were supposed to go elsewhere to make it happen.
In the years following that eye opening class session, it became apparent few actually took this guidance to heart.
I imagine that if you asked the same question of most journo's in the business today you would get an identical result.
Journalism school is a joke
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 13:00 ET by CapitalismRulesI too was deep into journalism school before I realized it was a losing battle. Working for a major outlet would mean reporting with an agenda, not with facts. Rush Limbaugh did a segment one time on what you are relating to and I recall thinking that changing the world involves more than changing or controlling communication, it involves beliefs, attitudes, philosophies and outlooks, not the type of packaged messages that drive advertising dollars.
*minor rant ahead*
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:31 ET by Cortillaen"I think that those of us in journalism have to do our best to try to
present the most objective view we can of what we have" Thanks for that load of BS. It appears things have gotten so bad that the new defense against bias charges is "But we can't help ourselves! It just happens!"
"... but everybody
brings their own filter into it." Right, see, there's a very simple solution to that problem: First, when reporting the news, report the freakin news! It's not that hard, just stick to the facts and quit editorializing everything. You've got teleprompters. Use them. I want numbers and hard data as the news. "But what about the shows in between the news?" When you break from the news for opinion shows, get people from both sides. Trust me, right-leaning people willing to be paid for spouting their opinions are out there. Try an ad or something.
</rant>
www.rhjunior.com Great comics with a hefty dose of Christian and anti-nutjob goodness.
"With your mind as high as Mt. Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things near to you." -Miyamoto Musashi
Admitting one has a
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:39 ET by iconoclastAdmitting one has a drinking problem is the first step to recovery. But admission does not sober a person up. Putting the bottle down does. The lib journalists are admitting their disease, yet still drinking. Not much good in that.
Referring to Obama "I hope he'll win. I think he will. If he doesn't, you can kiss the Democratic Party goodbye . . .," Robert Redford
The kind of people who go into journalism
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:41 ET by YahooWatcherAx-to-grind, uptight, law school flunk out radicals are what I see as today's "journalists"
Harwood was being honest
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:42 ET by c5thenThat is why news organizations and media outlets should be careful about loading up their staffs with like thinking individuals. MSNBC is the perfect example of what not to do. They are so liberal with their news anchors, opinion and analysts that they are almost more liberal than the DNC. It is impossible to get any kind of fair or objective coverage from them at all. They have turned into a pundit channel, not a news channel. They should change their moto to "All Liberal All the time".
Olberman and Matthews are so far over that they probably have their GPS units set up so that if they need to turn right, it has them make three lefts.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
12 step program
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:53 ET by sawing battaAdmitting is the first step. Big of you, Harwood.
But there are 11 hard steps to go....and the media "bowhweemouth" is a vast community that makes its own junk....tough to quit when you're surrounded by addicts with the ability to manufacture their own drugs...so dont hold your breath.
Note to Harwood: First rule of Fight Club is you dont talk about Fight Club.
The rationale for Wolf's
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 11:05 ET by lotrThe rationale for Wolf's bias only begs the question: Why is the CNN audience "mostly Democrats"?
Thank you!
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 11:16 ET by JohnMYou beat me to it - that struck me as well.
Even in their assessment that the CNN audience is left-leaning ("falling-over" left), they fail to dig that extra bit deeper to ask why that might be.
I thought journalists were supposed to dig to find the truth... and not only when they find it convenient.
"Biased journalists s**k." -An American Citizen
This is also exactly what I
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:09 ET by SmartypantsThis is also exactly what I was thinking. These idiots do not have the ability to take a step back and analyzie their own words and thoughts. It does not occur to this guy that the audience is composed of a certain demographic because that is exactly the demographic the network is shooting for in its coverage. He does not stop to ask why the audience is composed of Democrats. Completely brainless...
Bias
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 13:24 ET by serfer62CNN does NOT attract liberals, it drives away Conservatives.
So they are in fact audience selective...
Can I go out on a limb and
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 15:22 ET by mulerider24Can I go out on a limb and say Fox News demographics probably skew to the right? I wonder if CNN would have any problem extrapolating cause and effect on the flip side of this argument.
Do you mean as far as
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 16:19 ET by BDDo you mean as far as viewers or news personnel?
I would say that the viewership of Fox is undoubtedly more conservative in general than the others - for the simple reason that conservatives are more likely to see a fair and accurate news source as useful compared to one that is canted to the liberal side.
Reference the presenters, I can say that for every conservative on their opinion shows they have a counter-liberal. This cannot be said of the other news sources who usually put five liberals on to beat up on a lone conservative guest.
I don't doubt that FNC
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 20:14 ET by lotrI don't doubt that FNC demographics will more right leaning, than say, any of the other news channels. But, fact is, I have yet to see any blatant examples of right wing bias with their news anchors, e.g., Brit Hume. So the argument here goes that, "FNC has a more right-leaning demographic, relative to the other news channels, because their news anchors are less liberally biased." There is no begging the question here.
At some point
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 11:53 ET by doug1950in our history the MSM has decided that they are the ones who should determine what and who is qualified to be in public office as exampled with the feeding frenzy seen now with Sarah Palins' nomination. The U.S. Constitution says she meets the qualifications but the MSM has their own idea of what determnes experience and qualifications and THAT is to what their "filters" are applied. If the candidate does not pass their idea of what is best for THEM personally, then suddenly the individual is not somehow qualifed or experienced enough. Matters little that as in Obama's credentials he is actually less experienced and qualified in every area, HE meets their litmus test and gets a pass. His background and associates are not scrutinized as all or are brushed away. The MSM apears to have lost ALL credibility and are no longer even concerned about that. No attempt is even made to hide their bias. I suspect this all began in the Journalism programs around the country and on college campuses overrun with liberal professors. Truth no longer matters, plagerism is not anything to be ashamed of, pushing the liberal agenda is paramount and to be done at the cost of shareholders and customers of those news outlets. Every major liberal newspaper in the country is going down the hole and laying off personnel but rather than step back and ask themselves why? they continue on the same path to self destruction. Liberal radio can't get or keep listeners. In one sense they are and will be their own worst enemy, evenually driving the last nail in their own coffins. Some from within their own ranks have sounded the alarm but the march continues on. This week end may well show the public just how far down the hole the Media has sunk. This has been a new low even for some of the most repugnant people in the news industry. If everyone would simply call and cancel their subscriptions to newspapers, periodical, magazines, etc. that push this garbage, and tell them why they are cancelling, it will hit them where they can least afford it and do the most good.
The problem is that
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:14 ET by SmartypantsThe problem is that Blitzer's comment is not an aberration and it is not limited to just one individual or one network. These kinds of slips come out all of the time in both the print and broadcast media, as well as on the web. Blitzer considers himself an outsider at the RNC, and that is what drove his slanted comment. He and most of his peers feel more at home among the Democrats, and this is abundantly evident in their coverage.
To chalk this episode up as Blitzer merely playing to his audience is a horrible misrepresentation of what is actually going on.
So,do we allow them to continue to damage our country...
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:19 ET by ThalpySo, do we continue to allow them to damage our country and hasten the demise of our way of life because they know what is best for us? No, we don't! We can't allow it, and more importantly, I hope we won't.
This election process will serve us well, because it will remove all doubt that "it's them and us." Well, as it happens, it's them OR us.The enemy is there telling us each night how rotten we are, how unworthy we are, how privileged we have been, and how numbered our days are. Our press is one of our greatest enemies. It must be recognized.
Joe Kernan
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:34 ET by Kingfish17I've always liked Joe Kernan. He's knows what he's talking about with regards to finance and Wall Street, (that was his background before he went on CNBC). He can also be pretty funny at times.
CNBC has a great demographic, (rich investor class), so they don't want to totally ruin a good thing and prevent a totally slanted viewpoint like MSNBC. They keep a few guys like Joe Kernan around to give a little bit of balance to things. CNBC is still pretty slanted, but I can't bring myself to watch FOX Business News. FOX Business is pretty bad. I wish they would make it better.
How obvious can it get?
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:43 ET by buzzbeeI really like how my liberal associates say the bias is to the right. On what planet?
Drill here, Drill Now!
Media Bias
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 13:30 ET by billbWhen are the Republicans going to learn the cardinal political rule..."Never get into a pissing contest with a skunk?"
I have always loved Joe
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 13:51 ET by bigtimerI have always loved Joe Kernan...long time no hear from him...he sure made a fool out of Harwood, which he richly deserves...he is so absolutely phony baloney...when I see his face, I usually turn it.
CNN and msnbc were horrendous last night...especially Olbermann...I know that goes without saying...Wolf has made me puke for a couple of months now where I cannot even stand to listen to his afternoon shows most time anymore.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh