WHY AREN'T THERE MORE LIBERALS ON TV?

Certainly, t.w., your point is mine, as well; bias exists and it will be harder to eradicate than ignorance or cockroaches.

It's the reason why many see the media as biased liberally when it's actually biased conservatively. :wink:

I'll repeat myself from an earlier post that I don't think that media bias (either left or right) is a bad thing necessarily.

It's only human.

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Nothing to do with media bias, but "Gunmen Arrested Following Shootout With Police" is a damned rare headline. That's gotta be right there with "Volunteer Fire Department Saves Hay Barn".

timber

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lash: i understand and agree with what you are saying as i have used what i knew were biased sources with the addition that i state they are biased, as all too often it is difficult to find non-biased sources. i was not being critical other than to say that calling attention to bias by referencing another biased site does not lead support to ones argument. which, of course, leads us all to understand that finding unbiased references is becoming more and more difficult.

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Point, counter point.
Cool

I didn't feel criticised. And, you were right to point it out. I thought the blurb about where I got it was included, but I was desperately trying to find the unbiased link.

Oh well.

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Lash

Golly you exaggerate a lot. Look...where did you get this idea that universities are somehow causing children to think a certain way politically? Where did you hear or read this idea? Did you go through ten semesters, four years, whatever....and have some experiences you can speak about?

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I don't believe Lash thinks there are conservative Democrats or liberal Republicans or moderates of any kind. It seems, and I know he'll correct me if I'm wrong, that he thinks if one is not a Republican, one is a liberal.
Well, not all Republicans think alike, not all Democrats ..... not even most Democrats think alike. There is a scale of right/leftyness. A person can be for greater environmental protection and be a Bush backer on clone research. One might be for extending the Unemployment Insurance payments for a number of weeks and reducing the capital gains tax. It's a complex world with many contra-intravening issues.
It's a reporter's job to explain these things, some of the time, to put the facts in some order that is understandable. Just because someone votes a certain way does not mean that person cannot report on an issue fairly or teach a political science course impartially. If a liberal can't report fairly than it follows neither can a conservative. So what should we do ? Have only those who have no thoughts on the issues of the day report on them?
Maybe there ought to be a sliding scale button of political position that one could wear on their sleeve, or their forehead. It would glow different colors as one drifted from position to position. Green for the far left, blue for the moderate and red for the conservatives. Some people, right and left, would never change colors, others would swing wildly from deep blue to a healthy magenta.

J O E N A T I O N

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Amen, Joe. It's real frustrating to have to be pigeon-holed by a buncha flat world, inside the box thinking sometimes. I am liberal on most things politically, but on some issues, I see the conservative's point. Too often, we are all forced to pick sides, and that diminishes us all.

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Things have just gone wrong wrong wrong since the birth control pill. Can anyone here imagine what a lousy lay Bill Bennet is guaranteed to be?

Back in the fifties...when Jesus still walked the earth and stopped and talked to everyone all the time, not just briefly to Jerry Falwell before broadcast time like now in this age of false succor and Japanese cars...then the earth was firm underfoot, space age plastics and promise rained from Monsanto like unto manna, and Bill and Jerry saw their first Stag magazine (but it was tasteful, not explicit) and then the sixties came and Bill and Jerry penetrated women and great woe befell Creation.

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snood wrote:

Too often, we are all forced to pick sides, and that diminishes us all.

All too often by act of deciding "Its Them or Us", one becomes one of "Them".

timber

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timber

I think we all have a 'them'. For some, it is bureaucrats. For others, it is tax collectors or Muslims or people who wear leather and like spankings. It seems a matter of picking the right 'them' that's at issue.

I confess I have picked mine. Those who think themselves justified and authorized (through possession of some greater truth of which I am yet unappreciating but surely would be were I only to properly know it) in constraining my liberty to live my life as I decide where I bring no harm to others.

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pretty much with ya there blatham. I figure it'll be a while before we as a species get it fully sorted out. Progress so far has been uneven, and the results mixed. All in all it seems a slow market, but one with a relatively dependable long-term return at least in pace with inflation. We no longer ring the walls of our cities with the heads of our foes, as a rule. The practice once was much more common.

timber

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Then again, the practice might merely have fallen to Environmental Regulations, though, I suppose.

timber

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Damned regs!

We do make progress. Reading accounts from only a short while ago of quaint English folk taking the kids down to the town square to watch a drawing and quartering suggests that a certain grace marks our lives here and now.

But Satan is a sneaky bugger - that's his game. And cocaine tastes like candy, and the scotch floods over you like Quaker State motor oil over a warping Offenhauser piston, and you'll be tempted to buy a ball team. He needs watching.

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I wouldn't want a ball team. Now, a Top-Ten Contender NASCAR Winston Cup Championship team ... those noisy, gaudy , fast cars, those huge, gleaming Transporter Rigs, the arrogant Motorhomes ... , pnuematic wrenches and pnuematic wenches the likes of whom were not known to mother when she issued her warning ... There could be appeal to that..

timber

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I am familiar with your type, having a brother whose singular dream is to pass a highway patrolman at 150, and then shift. If you ask him (I don't) he will offer up vocalizations of Ferrari vs Porche dropping into first at the hairpin at Mosport. His relationship with the clutch and gearing on his Formula Ford is more intimate than anything I've managed with a woman, other than one Bubbles LeFevre, but she was an exceptional piece of machinery.

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Golly you exaggerate a lot. Look...where did you get this idea that universities are somehow causing children to think a certain way politically? Where did you hear or read this idea? Did you go through ten semesters, four years, whatever....and have some experiences you can speak about?

blatham--I got the idea from common sense, and yes, a couple of professors who ridiculed Christians in a history and psychology course.

I also get it from common sense. If I strongly believe Fact A, and have a position which allows me to pontificate my views to hundreds, and over time, thousands of young minds, ...and if Fact A is a topic which is discussed or alluded to in class... Surely you know my views on Fact A will be known-whether it is outright, or shaded in my words.

Do I say every student to hear teacher's views on Fact A will change their mind? No. Will some? Yes.

Whether this is bad or not, is not my point. That is a matter of opinion. Whether ot not it occurs, I assert is a fact.

Michael Kinsey states his liberal views do not seep forth from his commentary or work at the NPR. He is highly educated, and well-read, and in possession, IMO of a superior intellect. Which goes to show, intellect lacks in common sense and judgement. Surely, each of us sees different material through the bias of what we believe.

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Joe Nation-- You must feel you know my opinions of everything to make the comments you did about what I think.

If one espouses the views of the Republican party, a Democrat is a liberal to him. Certainly I am aware that Repubs and Dems do not all walk in lock-step to certain beliefs. I know this because I have many different views from the generalized platform of the Repubs.

I don't pretend to know everything you think. It is your error to assume you know me.

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Lash

What logical relationship is there between a Prof who ridicules Christian belief and liberal political theory? Would he be more conservative, or more correct, to ridicule Muslim belief? If he ridiculed Muslim belief, would that tell us anything other than that he is something of a pompous ass and clearly doesn't share the notions held by the writers of your constitution in the necessary acceptance of pluralism in a liberated society?

And what might a professor of Medieval English or Biology or Latin Poets say in a lecture hall which would pertain to political theory? And who'd care?

You suggest that Kinsey is an example of education, or more correctly, as an example that the more educated one becomes, the more foolish and wrong he is likely to end up. You wouldn't be alone in this idea, it has a very rich tradition in America, and if you ever get around to reading that Hofstadter book I mentioned to you earlier, you'll understand this history.

It isn't 'common sense' (whatever that term might mean) you rely on Lash, it's just an idea that's been hanging around for a long time and which still floats about like a grumpy old ghost.

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blatham wrote:

Lash

What logical relationship is there between a Prof who ridicules Christian belief and liberal political theory? Would he be more conservative, or more correct, to ridicule Muslim belief? If he ridiculed Muslim belief, would that tell us anything other than that he is something of a pompous ass and clearly doesn't share the notions held by the writers of your constitution in the necessary acceptance of pluralism in a liberated society?Ridiculing any religion to a bunch of kids, IMO, is wrong. If he were not in such a position of authority, and his class was not dependent on him for a grade, it would be different. But the fact remains, it happens. This anti-Christian thing is ONE example of how professor's opinions show up in the classroom. Would you hazard to state their political opinions are not shared, and the opposing viewpoint, not belittled as well?

And what might a professor of Medieval English or Biology or Latin Poets say in a lecture hall which would pertain to political theory? And who'd care?If you believe political; opinions do not surface in these classes, I am not the naive one. As a matter of fact, I posted an article that deals with it. I'll go look for specifics.

You suggest that Kinsey is an example of education, or more correctly, as an example that the more educated one becomes, the more foolish and wrong he is likely to end up. You wouldn't be alone in this idea, it has a very rich tradition in America, and if you ever get around to reading that Hofstadter book I mentioned to you earlier, you'll understand this history.
I did not disparage Kinsey's education. I respect it. What I said is his education did not benefit him in his arrival at his assertion that his political leanings do not color his commentary and leanings of the news at NPR.

It isn't 'common sense' (whatever that term might mean) you rely on Lash, it's just an idea that's been hanging around for a long time and which still floats about like a grumpy old ghost.

I do think common sense is worthwhile, and can cut through alot of verbal masturbation.

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PDiddie wrote:

I'll repeat myself from an earlier post that I don't think that media bias (either left or right) is a bad thing necessarily.

It's only human.

Fortunately, I think the bias scales are being balanced more and more with the advent of new alternatives to old-guard media. If bias is something we have to expected, accept, and consider in what we read, hear, or see--as you and I think it is--it is best for everyone if we all acknowledge its existence.

I do think that the dominance of a liberal bias over the past many years has had a negative impact on our culture, though I might think the impact positive were I a liberal on more issues. (I would also consider a predominantly conservative bias in the news to be not in our best interests as a society, even if I share the views promoted by that bias.) Whether positive or negative, tilting the news upon which most people base their decisions must by definition effect the decisions they make.

Consider tax cuts. Suppose someone proposes a 1% cut across the board in marginal tax rates. Every taxpayer will see his or her rate cut by 1%. Report it that way, and it sounds fair and even-handed. Now, focus your report instead on the inescapable mathematical reality that 1% of what a high wage earner makes is going to be more money than 1% of what a low wage earner makes, by stating that the tax cut will save high wage earners far more than it will low wage earners, and you've painted a very different, though still factually accurate, picture.

Now, assume that most reports on tax cut proposals focus on the second way of presenting the tax cuts. Is that not likely to engender--over time--a specific point of view in those who consume the news? I don't think there is any question that it would.

Likewise, if reporters covering stories on the homeless select single mothers with children to interview in 90% of their stories, when single mothers with children probably represent less than 5% of the homeless, would that not effectively educate bias news consumers to believe that single mothers with children are common among the homeless?

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WHY AREN'T THERE MORE LIBERALS ON TV?

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