Poll Finds Media is Liberal

The recent poll by the nonprofit and highly respected Pew Research Center found that the bias in the media is obvious and overwhelmingly liberal. The Pew survey queried national and local journalists along with the general public. Results from the three groups were then compared.

Many writers have weighed in on the Pew results, including Adam Sparks, who states in his analysis:

The poll essentially showed that many in the media think being moderate, fair and balanced is best expressed by adopting the philosophy of liberalism. Media professionals either don't know they are overwhelmingly liberal, or they simply won't admit it.

So, Sparks contends they're either ignorant or they're disingenuous. I tend to agree with him. However, I'm somewhat surprised. Not by Sparks' analysis, but by the fact I saw it in the San Francisco Chronicle. It's rare for an ardently liberal newspaper to allow itself to be criticized in its own pages.

My personal take is that the media know they're liberal and are afraid to admit it. Given that a substantial majority of the population is not liberal, admitting their liberalism would result in diminished credibility. For example, if it were common knowledge that a particular New York newspaper was nothing more than a Democratic Party house organ, then readers would be considerably more critical of its content. The owners and editors surely wouldn't want that. Therefore, they won't admit their political bias and, instead, claim neutrality, providing only unbiased content that's fit to publish.