Poll: By 2-to-1, Nets Biased to Left; More Libs See NYTimes as Liberal Than Conservative

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As highlighted Monday night by FNC's Brit Hume, a new Rasmussen Reports poll discovered that, by about two-to-one or greater, the public recognize a liberal bias over a conservative bias on ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, NPR as well as in the New York Times and Washington Post. “By a 39 percent to 20 percent margin,” a Friday summary of their survey relayed, “American adults believe that the three major broadcast networks deliver news with a bias in favor of liberals.” The public perceive liberal bias by 33 percent to 16 percent for CNN and 27 percent to 14 percent for NPR. More believe FNC delivers the news with “neither” a bias in favor of liberals or conservatives than see ABC, CBS, CNN or NBC as unbiased: While 25 percent consider the broadcast networks to be without a slant, 32 percent think CNN is “without bias,” but even more, 36 percent, say that about the Fox News Channel.

On the newspaper side, in results released Sunday, Rasmussen learned than Americans see the Washington Post as liberal over conservative by about two-to-one (30 to 16 percent) while it's closer to four-to-one (40 to 11 percent) for the New York Times. “One of the more startling details,” Rasmussen proposed, is that while liberals see all broadcast outlets and most newspapers as having a bias in favor of conservatives, even “25 percent of liberals see a liberal bias at the New York Times while only 17 percent see a conservative bias. This makes the New York Times the only media outlet that liberals are more likely to see as having a liberal bias than a conservative bias.”

In a Saturday night NewsBusters posting you may have missed, Noel Sheppard recounted the broadcast network numbers.

Rasmussen pointed out how nearly half of liberals consider the major media outlets to be unbiased and nearly five times as many perceive a conservative over a liberal bias: “Among self-identified liberals, all of the media outlets are believed to have some net bias in favor of conservatives. However, 50% of liberals say that NPR is unbiased. Forty-three percent (43%) say the same about CNN. As for the major television networks, 49% of liberals believe they have a conservative bias. Just 10% of liberals see a liberal bias at ABC, CBS, and NBC.”

The Rasmussen rundown noted that independents see a liberal bias by two-to-one: “Those not affiliated with either major party tend to see a liberal bias everywhere except Fox. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of unaffiliateds see a liberal bias at the major television networks while only 19% see a conservative bias.”

Hume's item in the “Grapevine” segment on the July 16 Special Report with Brit Hume:

Most of the people who took part in a Rasmussen Reports poll about news coverage believe there's too much bias out there. The two organizations perceived as having the least bias are National Public Radio and Fox News: 37 percent say NPR plays it straight, 36 percent say that about Fox. CNN gets 32 as you can see, and the three major broadcast networks come in as a group at 25 percent thinking they're not biased. No news outlet was considered biased to the right by more than 31 percent. And as far as newspapers are concerned, the New York Times is perceived as liberal by the most people -- 40 percent, the Washington Post at 30 while 35 percent of the respondents felt their own local newspaper was slanted to the left as well.

The question posed by Rasmussen: “When CBS, NBC, and ABC report the news, they show a bias that favors...” with the name of the network replaced in subsequent questions and with a newspaper name in a second survey.

An excerpt from RasmussenReports.com's “Americans See Liberal Media Bias on TV News,” the July 13 rundown of the network news portion of the poll, of 1,000 adults conducted July 11-12, posted on Friday:

By a 39% to 20% margin, American adults believe that the three major broadcast networks deliver news with a bias in favor of liberals. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 25% believe that ABC, CBS, and NBC deliver the news without any bias.

Similar results are found for CNN and National Public Radio (NPR). By a margin of 33% to 16%, Americans say that CNN has a liberal bias. The nation’s adults say the same about NPR by a 27% to 14% margin.

There is one major exception to the belief that media outlets have a liberal bias -- Fox News. Thirty-one percent (31%) of Americans say it has a bias that favors conservatives while 15% say it has a liberal bias.

When it comes to delivering news without bias, 37% believe NPR accomplishes that goal. Thirty-six percent (36%) say the same for Fox and 32% believe it’s true of CNN. As noted earlier, just 25% believe the major broadcast networks deliver news in an unbiased manner....

Not surprisingly, there are huge partisan and ideological differences in the data. For example, among self-identified liberals, all of the media outlets are believed to have some net bias in favor of conservatives. However, 50% of liberals say that NPR is unbiased. Forty-three percent (43%) say the same about CNN. As for the major television networks, 49% of liberals believe they have a conservative bias. Just 10% of liberals see a liberal bias at ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Conservatives throughout the nation see things entirely differently. Sixty-two percent (62%) see a liberal bias at the major broadcast networks and 55% say the same about CNN. Forty-five percent (45%) of conservatives see Fox as unbiased and the rest are evenly divided. Eighteen percent (18%) of conservatives see Fox News as having a liberal bias while 21% say the opposite.

Younger adults are less likely than their elders to see a liberal bias across all of the media outlets.

On a partisan basis, Democrats see the major television networks and Fox as biased in favor of conservatives. Solid pluralities of Democrats believe CNN and NPR deliver news without bias. Those Democrats who see bias at CNN and NPR are fairly evenly divided, but are a bit more likely to detect conservative bias.

Republicans see a strong liberal bias on all the outlets except Fox. Forty-nine percent (49%) of the GOP faithful see Fox as fair and balanced.

Those not affiliated with either major party tend to see a liberal bias everywhere except Fox. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of unaffiliateds see a liberal bias at the major television networks while only 19% see a conservative bias....

An excerpt from “New York Times, Washington Post, and Local Newspapers Seen as Having Liberal Bias,” RasmussenReports.com's Sunday, July 15 rundown of its survey of 967 adults conducted July 13-14:

A Rasmussen Reports survey on perceptions of media bias found that Americans tend to believe that the New York Times, Washington Post, and their local newspaper all show a bias in favor of liberals. A plurality believes that the Wall Street Journal delivers the news without bias....

Among the print publications in the survey, the New York Times is perceived as being furthest to the left. Forty percent (40%) of Americans believe the Times has a bias in favor of liberals. Just 11% believe it has a conservative bias while 20% believe it reports news without bias.

Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans see a liberal bias in their local newspaper while 21% see a conservative bias. For the Washington Post, 30% see a liberal bias and 16% see a conservative bias.

Twenty-nine percent (29%) see the Wall Street Journal as unbiased. Among those who see the Journal as biased, opinion is fairly evenly divided as to who that publication favors—22% say the Journal has a conservative bias while 18% see a liberal bias.

One of the more startling details concerns the perceptions of liberals towards the New York Times. Liberals tend to see all broadcast outlets and most print publications as having a bias in favor of conservatives. A plurality of liberals (40%) believes the Times delivers news without bias. However, 25% of liberals see a liberal bias at the New York Times while only 17% see a conservative bias. This makes the New York Times the only media outlet that liberals are more likely to see as having a liberal bias than a conservative bias....

The MRC's “Media Bias Basics” Web page (updated regularly by Rich Noyes) contains a section, “How the Public Views the Media,” with about a dozen previous surveys on how Americans see the media as liberal.