WaPo Editor Broder Says 'No Such Thing' As Media Bias

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In a recent visit to Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, Washington Post political editor David Broder told students that he believes there is no such thing as media bias. He claims that too many confuse talk radio with journalism and imagines the bias is predicated on that basis.

Speaking also to WOAI radio, Broder said, "I have spent almost fifty years of my life covering campaigns with other people. I don't think there is a serious problem with ideological or political bias."

According to WOAI, Broder claimed not to see any bias in reporters of his generation nor in younger journalists. "I don't find a problem with bias among my younger colleagues at all," Broder said. "That's not a concern of mine."

So, what is the problem with the pervasive feeling from so many that there is media bias? Blame it on talk radio.

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Broder says the allegations of media bias frequently stem from the proliferation of politically charged radio talk shows and television analysis programs, which viewers and listeners 'mistake' for journalism.

"I think their reputation kind of washes over our reputations," he said. "The folks who are sounding off about politics on all of the talk shows and the 24 hour news channels and so on. I would not make the argument that those people are free of bias. They are in fact paid to be opinionated."

Sadly, Broder is entirely mistaken, here. I wonder if he's ever read the Associated Press and seen the pervasive liberal bias in so much of its past work, not to mention the AP's new policy of purposefully inserting more opinion in its work?

I would suggest, though, a reason that Broder is blind to this bias. First of all he works for a liberal paper and doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him. But, more importantly, he is of the Old Media and that is his bias. Perhaps he looks down on TV, radio and the New Media because of his predilections and loyalties. In some it might even be considered elitism, though I hesitate to ascribe elitism to Broder.

This inability to see liberal bias is quite a blind spot for Mr. Broder, I must say.

(Photo Credit: Washington Post)


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Looks like that is all she wrote.

  Looks like this is the end of NewBusters!

  It was a nice ride while it lasted.

  Thanks Mr. Broder for destroying the whole point of this fun little site.

  Thanks Mr. Huston for making the last post.

  I'll get the lights. 

Sincerely,

a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.

Dang it.

  You're saying he was mistaken. Ah. My bad. Carry on. 

Sincerely,

a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.

mmmm koolaid  Journalis

mmmm

koolaid 

Journalism is the opium of the liberals

You all at NB are too

You all at NB are too kind.  You subscribe to Broder a mere blind spot.  That is nonsense.  Think of the fix he would be in if he admitted it.  No more invitations to swanky cocktail parties in D.C.  No more getting in on the mutual admiration awards to each other.  No more giddy get togethers to plan out strategy in the drive by media news room to decide what to call our president in the next hit piece (let's see, we haven't used Heindrich Himmler for a while; naw . . . Hitler is the ole' stand by, let's use that again). 

 

Prison

One time I was visiting a state prison. I had an opportunity to speak before several hundred inmates. The first thing I did was say, "Would all of those that are innocent of the charges that got them here please signify by saying "AYE!".

You can only imagine the resounding roar, can't you!

gravitas!

Even Bernie Goldberg says they don't actually sit around like an ersatz Star Chamber, trying to figure out the slur of the day - but they DO take direction from the DNC and other leftist groups and rarely if ever bother to fact-check, because they all believe that what they're fed (leftist propaganda) IS fact, hence no need to "fact check" - it's already true.

My favorite example is GRAVITAS, when nearly every talking news head used that same word on the same day to describe Cheney -- yessir, they all came up with that same term, same day; no connection whatsoever.

 

 

"frequently stem from the

"frequently stem from the proliferation of politically charged radio
talk shows and television analysis programs, which viewers and
listeners 'mistake' for journalism."

He had better enlighten Olbermann because Olbermann calls himself a journalist constantly.

 

"Forget change, I want improvement!"

Did the liberal bias keep

Did the liberal bias keep Bush from being elected twice? Do the Dems control Congress because of liberal media or because of people were tired of the Bush policies? If McCain loses will it be because of liberal media or becuase of voters want a change from Bush?

You're good!

  Isn't it a wonderful testament to the American people that they can see through the bull and elect good people DESPITE the pervasive media bias.

 Isn't it sad that sometimes the media bias pervails and Dems get in.

 Yes, Jesse, the liberal media are trying to do in McCain. You are right there too.

 Man, so much insight in so few words. Thanks Jesse. We will fight harder against the media bias just to pay tribute to you and get McCain in as you will! 

Sincerely,

a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.

mndasher

 <blockquote> JesseJacksonIV: "Did
the liberal bias keep Bush from being elected twice? Do the Dems
control Congress because of liberal media or because of people were
tired of the Bush policies? If McCain loses will it be because of
liberal media or becuase of voters want a change from Bush?"</blockquote>

No! But liberal bias made the election of Bush much closer then they should have been. And the liberal bias of alleged Bush policies caused you to elect the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as majority leaders. Two of the most incompetent and far left leaders that have ever walked the halls of Congress.

The liberal bias has caused an equally incompetent Senator from IL to be the democrat choice for President this year.

 

"Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink."  P.J.O'Rourke

Get Real

There has been a mouth-frothing animal hatred for George W Bush by all the Sore-Loserman libs since day one. They constantly push their mantra about Bush being a bad president because they just can't get over the fact the people elected him, despite massive voter fraud in Ohio and Florida by the dems, democratic controlled election boards trying to recount just districts in Florida to give algore the win, trying to disenfranchise our military men and women.

And you hate just gets worse and worse and the Iraq people are freed and can vote, no longer subject to a madman force feeding the dissidant Iraqi people alive into plastic shredding machines, or disappearing in the middle of the night while out of control sons of the madman have them taken out and shot. Yet, you claim we did it to steal their oil and take their land.

You don't stand for freedom, helping those in need, nor making the world a better place. You stand for hate, racial divisions, sexism, theft and socialist programs to steal from those who produce to give to yourselves in the name of 'fairness'. Remember, those who steal from Peter to pay Paul can ALWAYS count on the support of Paul Too bad there are so many Pauls in the world with their hands in MY pocket.

Correct AJB

The only voters that were disenfranchised in Florida were the absentee military thanks to an army of democrat lawyers.

Disenfranchised

If 25% of the people who have used the word "disenfranchised" over the last seven years could spell it and define it;;; then I will vote for Barack Hussein Obama this time!

»→ cvbuckeye

And if any of them knew "disfranchised" is an exact synonym, the percentage could drop to 1% 

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Joe Biden 6/12/87

"If McCain loses will it be

"If McCain loses will it be because of liberal media or becuase of voters want a change from Bush?"

No, but if Obama wins it will be because of liberal bias, that and nearly a billion dollars spent. He will have certainly not done it on his own merits, deeds or experience.

 

"Forget change, I want improvement!"

News Flash!

Yet another clueless media idiot is heard from.  Many stay bored.

Say, how's that tobacco tasting?

These people in the media who take the what liberal bias talking point remind me increasingly of the tobacco industry in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, which officially continued to deny or minimize the evidence that cigarettes were bad for your health long after everyone else knew otherwise.

Maybe instead of "More Doctors Smoke Camels than Any Other Cigarette," Broder's slogan can be "More Reporters 'Don't Have a Problem' with Bias at the Washington Post than Any Other Paper"???

Yeah...

Another new slogan..."Media bias: tastes good and good for you!", brought to you by your friends at The New York Times

»→ Pity Broder

We've all got that "crazy old uncle", set in his ways.  He can't help it, he was raised that way.

It wasn't so much the Kennedy Administration, but the Kennedy assassination that yanked this country so sharply to the left.

Broder doesn't follow JFK, he follows LBJ.  He can't help it.  He's old and set in his ways. 

"Don't taze me bro" - Joe Biden

I agree. The JFK myth

I agree. The JFK myth depends upon the assassination. The paradox is that it is most likely far left interests (read Communists) that were responsible for the hit.

At least Walter Cronkite admits...

to the bias. He just doesn't see anything wrong with it.

I don't see anything wrong with it either

Never have.  What I object to is the dishonesty and the denial of what is so painfully obvious.  If you're liberal, say so.  Then I know what b.s. filter to use.

"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Official Motto of the State of Iowa

He proves it himself

  • If you're a liberal, when all of the media coverage is liberal, all of the coverage is exactly what you want to hear. The only sour notes are FoxNews, and the O'Reillys, Limbaughs, and Hannitys of the world.
  • If you're a conservative, you see things from the other direction. The talk show guys (whom you treat mostly as entertainers, not final-say analysts, by the way) are just a breath of fresh air against the wall of liberal distortion.

So when Broder gives us the perspective of someone who sees fair coverage and can only cite talk shows as contradictions, he just reveals what his perspective is - liberal.

One last point - the NewsBusters site offers a dozen or so examples every day of bias. MRC, with the much longer history, has decades of evidence. One would think that a news professional would address why NB has so many items every day.

To be fair, Broder is far

To be fair, Broder is far more centrist than most. In fact, the left considers him a "conservative" and he has often been known to say supportive things about Bush.

I'm still going with my "blind spot" theory.

And, I doubt he's ever heard of NewsBusters much less read anything here.

Bernard Goldberg was

Bernard Goldberg was right. 

In his first book "Bias" he talked about the fact that liberals in the media are just so immersed in their own world of Manhattan and DC, that they go years without ever hearing an opinion contrary to their own.  

So of course they think that thei view is the normal one.

That is true

I find this with liberals generally even outside journalism and the beltway. They are so entirely insular that they are shocked when they find someone who disagrees with them.

You're right Warner (now,

You're right Warner (now, don't go getting all puffed up! LOL)

I should have said just "liberals," not liberals in the media.

My wife says...

That I don't need no ego puffin. Itz already big az it cud git!

MOTHERBELT...

1 of the 1st things I thought of when I saw this story was the very point you brought up in Goldberg's book. BTW, kids, if yo have not read Goldberg's book "Bias", do so. It is very good & gives you insight about how the MSM is biased from the inside. Whether those on the inside will admit it, that is another story.

As for Broder himself, he just added his name to an ever growing list of media types I can dismiss. It is his attitude, 1 that is held by many in the MSM, that is destoying the MSM because people are fleeing them in search of truth in media.

 

"...it's still We The People, Right?"  Megadeth 

Goldberg

Not only that but I mildly agree with Goldberg's assertion that "If you gave the members of the MSM lie detector tests on their denials of leftist bias, they would mostly pass due to their extreme isolations of any other points of view" (or something like that).

I think he was abducted by

I think he was abducted by aliens and zapped with that gizmo that Men in Black use to remove your memory.

If pro is the opposite of con what is the opposite of progress? Congress!

»→ Maybe rick

But I was thinking the culprit was more like the Alien Anal Rectal Probe from South Park.  

"Don't taze me bro" - Joe Biden

The proof is in the pudding, WTH

No offense against Broder, but when someone looks at the media landscape and can't see any bias, that reveals what they think they're looking at.

Fair point about NewsBusters. I think I'd have been better off saying that NB has decades of evidence, and leave it at that. I must be low on caffeine.

"And, I doubt he's ever

"And, I doubt he's ever heard of NewsBusters much less read anything here."

Yeah, it would take a lot of digging to discover that sites like NB exist. </sarc>

But it follows; if you aren't aware there are alternate POVs, you don't go looking for them, do you? It really may be an insular problem in some cases.

Some, not most.

 

"... smells like... victory." - Robert Duvall

Oh, Broder!

Broder is just a member of the corporate fascist dinosaur media who wants to see the (UN)Fairness Doctrine imposed. GO BACK TO THE HOME WITH HELEN THOMAS YA OLD SON OF A BEE-YOTCH!

Oh Broder!

I love it.  This is proof positive that Broder doesn't know about Newsbusters.  Send him an email summary daily!  Or, could it be that he doesn't research before making his profound statements?  Is he still in full use of his facilties?  Sad that anyone could be so out of it.

kiwikit,

Yeah, with the publicity that NB has been getting recently, how could anyone that claims to know anything about "the media" not be aware of this and other sites that are dedicated to bias?

"Blind spot," indeed.

"Hey, Moe, I can't see!"
"Why not?"
"I got my eyes closed!"

 

"... smells like... victory." - Robert Duvall

Blame it on talk

Blame it on talk radio?????

Talk radio exists BECAUSE of media bias!

Broder has his head in the sand, along with the rest of them.  They can't see the forest for the trees.

EL-RUSHBO...

mattm,

El-Rushbo has said that the MSM(drive-by-media) don't "get" him, which is the very reason they see no problem with how they do their job. If they were NOT the baised idiots Rush claims them to be, Rush would not exist today as he does.

The MSM does not understand how or why he has the power he has, & as long as that continues, he will remain king.

 

"...it's still We The People, Right?"  Megadeth 

Like so many of the MSM Broder simply won't admit...

Like so many of the MSM, Broder simply won't admit the truth(if he knows it). Speaking about talk radio Broder said, "I would not make the argument that those people are free of bias. They are in fact paid to be opinionated." The fact is, they are opinionated, and they are paid. The MSM claim to report the news. They report their worldview along with the worldview of their owners and editors. On occasion, some of these reporters appear to be decent people and we might like to give them the benefit of doubt; as for the rest, they are "a wretched hive of scum and villainy."

what, me biased?

Broder and his comrades can't possibly be biased because, in the words of his famous fellow in yellow (journalism), "That's the way it is..."

Hence, no bias. 

 

 

Couric, Williams, Gibson

These three "objective jounalists" discussed media bias at the convention. They looked at each other with disbelief and denied it outright. They also mocked the idea and laughed at it. However, when they laugh and mock and smirk, it is a sign that they are lying. Lying is part and parcel of their operation. And it has destroyed their credibility. As for Broder, he's an intelligent man and he knows that the bias exists. He too is simply a liar. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, you can be sure it's a duck. Furthermore, it is despicable on many levels that he would be lying to young people at the university. He should be pointing to the bias and instructing them as to its existence, not the other way around. Sad.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

or

"If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, you can be sure it's a duck."

or

Can't see the forest for the trees!

 

I'm just curious...

...about how many of the posters here know that this page (NewBusters) is just one of the informative sources of the site (Media Research Center), and that it has another page that we should all get familiar with:

http://www.mediaresearch.org/biasbasics/biasbasics1.asp

There you will find actual results of surveys taken over several decades of the journalism "professionals" (reporters, editors, anchors, press corp, professors of journalism and their students, etc) at all levels that PROVE the bias of the media. For instance, did you know that 74-94% of the media vote for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election going back to 1964, including 81% for McGovern? Or that surveys show that their self-professed attitudes on issues are far to the left of the average citizens?

While all the posters here (except the usual drive-by trolls), using plain old common sense, know that there is media bias, when we have a disagreement online or in person about it, can we point to facts to back up this assertion?

That is a perfect reference source for ammunition in the fight against this uninformed lunacy that comes from the left. 

David Broder Alive?

I hadn't heard of David Broder in years.

Thought he has long gone. Must be living in an assitsed memory home. 

 

BW222

»→ BW222

I thought the same thing, but I was clearly remembering him going up in that spaceship hiding behind that Hale-Bopp comet.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Joe Biden 6/12/87

Glad I didn't have a drink

Glad I didn't have a drink nearby when I read this headline!

The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy