Skewing Coverage
The Media Research Center has a very damning analysis of network news blatantly skewing news coverage. In analyzing coverage of the illegal immigration rallies earlier this year, the bias is astonishing.
Spurred by a passionate public outcry against the tide of illegal immigration, on December 16, 2005, the House of Representatives passed a bill to curb the flow of illegal aliens and give the federal government more responsibility for detaining and deporting them. On that night, ABC, CBS, and NBC didn’t cover the vote. But when left-wing advocacy groups for illegal aliens organized large protests against the House bill in the spring, as the Senate considered its own immigration bill, the networks suddenly, fervently discovered the issue and gave the advocacy groups not a mere soapbox in the park, but a three-network rollout of free air time. Protest coverage, often one-sided, stood in stark contrast to polling data showing that a stricter approach to illegal immigration was broadly popular in the country.
To determine the tone and balance of network coverage of illegal aliens, MRC analysts evaluated every ABC, CBS, and NBC morning, evening, and magazine show news segment on the immigration debate from the outbreak of protest coverage on March 24, 2006 through May 31, 2006. In 309 stories, analysts found the following trends emerged:
Head over there to read the details - it is truly appalling.
Immigration Reform | Gaius Monday, 28 August , 2006
By Roland Hesz, Tuesday, 29 August , 2006 @ 5:12 am
One thing is I don’t really get: whoever reads the news anymore?
I mean, mostly they are false, or outright lies, nothing more than digging for blood, sex, and anything that is sensational.
Destroying lives in their wake, not caring about anything but selling and profit.
I just gave up on believing them. Even the ones I link here.
And one thing - do I really care about it?
I can read blogs, personal accounts and opinions that are clearly not objective, but I know that, and they are not even supposed to be objective.
And the last drop fell this month with some sick, dirty stuff they pulled.
I say, stop watching TV, don’t buy newspaper, head for the blogs.
Even the spelling and the writing is of better quality than that of the professional media.
And you can’t get disappointed when it turns out that the blogger was not subjective.
By Gaius, Tuesday, 29 August , 2006 @ 5:16 am
Well, we are dependent on news sources, too. The difference is, we can also critique a bad story and often expose misrepresentations.