Is There A Media Bias in The Presidential Campaign of 2012?
In an article yesterday in President Barack Obama's hometown newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, journalist Steve Huntley makes the case that the news media is biased in favour of the President during this election campaign. Accusations of media bias are not unusual, although it is somewhat unusual when they come from the journalists themselves. In the article, Huntley writes:
"Each new day seems to bring further evidence of the unremitting failure of President Barack Obama’s economic and foreign policies. Yet the presidential contest remains even, due in large part to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s failure to articulate a specific economic reform agenda and to the mainstream media’s obsession with what Obama-friendly commentators see as Romney’s gaffes.
"The media narrative is Romney has had a bad couple of weeks with less-than-artful or ill-timed remarks about the growth of government dependency and Obama’s failed foreign policy. Still, Obama has had his own bad couple of weeks, on the economic front as well as abroad — though the media haven’t spotlighted it as they have with Romney.
"New Census Bureau figures show median household income fell or was flat last year in 37 states — mirroring data released a week ago showing national median household income is down to mid-1990s levels. This drop came amid the Obama recovery, the weakest rebound from a recession in modern history."
But another article from the 4th Estate Project claims that liberal media bias is a myth. The offer the following chart in support of their argument:
According to 4th Estate Media Analyst Max Krieg “Our data clearly shows that if the mainstream media does have a liberal bias, that bias isn’t manifesting itself in the current campaign. In fact, the data shows that Republicans are quoted 44% more than Democrats, and the coverage of Mitt Romney is significantly less negative than coverage of Barack Obama.
Michael Howe, The 4th Estate’s Chief Technology Officer, says "Our technology can measure biases across different topics, media outlets, and journalists. The 4th Estate is the first system to be able to methodically and quantitatively track, monitor, and measure in real-time the key data points in this debate, specifically the quantitative measurement of quotes and the sentiment of these quotes attributed to individuals and affiliate groups.”
I invite your opinion as to whether or not you think that this is a fair observation. I welcome your comments, but please take a second to complete the following poll:
"Each new day seems to bring further evidence of the unremitting failure of President Barack Obama’s economic and foreign policies. Yet the presidential contest remains even, due in large part to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s failure to articulate a specific economic reform agenda and to the mainstream media’s obsession with what Obama-friendly commentators see as Romney’s gaffes.
"The media narrative is Romney has had a bad couple of weeks with less-than-artful or ill-timed remarks about the growth of government dependency and Obama’s failed foreign policy. Still, Obama has had his own bad couple of weeks, on the economic front as well as abroad — though the media haven’t spotlighted it as they have with Romney.
"New Census Bureau figures show median household income fell or was flat last year in 37 states — mirroring data released a week ago showing national median household income is down to mid-1990s levels. This drop came amid the Obama recovery, the weakest rebound from a recession in modern history."
But another article from the 4th Estate Project claims that liberal media bias is a myth. The offer the following chart in support of their argument:
According to 4th Estate Media Analyst Max Krieg “Our data clearly shows that if the mainstream media does have a liberal bias, that bias isn’t manifesting itself in the current campaign. In fact, the data shows that Republicans are quoted 44% more than Democrats, and the coverage of Mitt Romney is significantly less negative than coverage of Barack Obama.
Michael Howe, The 4th Estate’s Chief Technology Officer, says "Our technology can measure biases across different topics, media outlets, and journalists. The 4th Estate is the first system to be able to methodically and quantitatively track, monitor, and measure in real-time the key data points in this debate, specifically the quantitative measurement of quotes and the sentiment of these quotes attributed to individuals and affiliate groups.”
I invite your opinion as to whether or not you think that this is a fair observation. I welcome your comments, but please take a second to complete the following poll:
Do you believe that the news media, generally speaking, has a bias in this election?
Yes, in favour of President Obama
4(50.0%)
Yes, in favour of Governor Romney
0(0.0%)
No
2(25.0%)
I'm not sure
2(25.0%)
Among the following news organizations listed below, which do you perceive as having a bias (for either candidate) in this election?
CNN
2(4.3%)
Fox News
6(13.0%)
MSNBC
7(15.2%)
NBC
4(8.7%)
CBS
4(8.7%)
ABC
3(6.5%)
The Wall Street Journal
3(6.5%)
The New York Times
3(6.5%)
The Washington Post
3(6.5%)
USA Today
2(4.3%)
Time Magazine
2(4.3%)
Newseek Magazine
3(6.5%)
Politico
2(4.3%)
The Drudge Report
2(4.3%)
Another one that I'll mention in a comment
0(0.0%)
None of the above
0(0.0%)