Are The Media Too Liberal?

Elections provide the perfect excuse to dissect biases -- but past outcomes suggest that even if reporters could manage a conspiracy, it wouldn't change the results

Two weeks ago, a woman called the reader line at the Seattle Post- Intelligencer with the kind of complaint that overheated partisans make to nearly every news organization in nearly every election year. "The picture on page 4 of Vice President Quayle," she said, "shows his mouth screwed up, while beside him Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown looks very happy." The same thing happens, the woman added, whenever the paper runs photos of President Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton, or for that matter other nominees of each party. "The Republicans are always frowning. The Democrats are always happy."

Journalists tend...

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