Voters call “bias” on MSM

Do journalists report the news fairly without favor for either party?

Most J-school professors, the network anchors, David Gergen, Bill Moyers, Gwen Ifill, Dan Rather, and most journalists at local newspapers keep saying they do.

But the public doesn’t agree.

Here's the latest example of the publics disagreement - - -

The the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism reports:

Voters overwhelmingly believe that the media wants Barack Obama to win the presidential election.

By a margin of 70%-9%, Americans say most journalists want to see Obama, not John McCain, win on Nov. 4. Another 8% say journalists don't favor either candidate, and 13% say they don't know which candidate most reporters support. (all emphases added)

A separate study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism looks at the media’s recent campaign coverage and finds that McCain received significantly more negative than positive coverage between the GOP convention and the final debate. The study says that press treatment of Obama has been somewhat more positive than negative, but not markedly so. [See "Winning the Media Campaign" released October 22, 2008.]

In recent presidential campaigns, voters repeatedly have said they thought journalists favored the Democratic candidate over the Republican. But this year's margin is particularly wide.

At this stage of the 2004 campaign, 50% of voters said most journalists wanted to see John Kerry win the election, while 22% said most journalists favored George Bush. In October 2000, 47% of voters said journalists wanted to see Al Gore win and 23% said most journalists wanted Bush to win. In 1996, 59% said journalists were pulling for Bill Clinton.

In the current campaign, Republicans, Democrats and independents all feel that the media wants to see Obama win the election. Republicans are almost unanimous in their opinion: 90% of GOP voters say most journalists are pulling for Obama. More than six-in-ten Democratic and independent voters (62% each) say the same.

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Comments:

No one should be surprised by any of what Pew reports.

I hope those of you who lean or are GOPers or politically conservative print and save or file electronically the Pew report so you can use it the next time some MSMer tries the following on you - - -

“Oh sure, we hear complaints from conservatives and Republicans all the time. But we’re really pretty fair.”

Or this one - - -

“Well, I know you’re upset and we get calls from Dems and Liberals who are upset, too. I always say if your catching it from both sides you must be doing about right.”

That stuff is bosh.

For decades MSM has been titling left and Democratic; and in this campaign more so than I ever remember.

The public across the political spectrum is noticing and calling "bias" on MSM.

Hat tip: Instapundit