by Ben Mack
(Swans - January 2, 2006) A recent Harris Poll helps explain the blatant liberal bias of the media. Until recently I would have argued it was absurd to describe mass media as having a liberal bias, but now I am a convert. OUR MEDIA IS FAR MORE LIBERAL THAN I EVER IMAGINED.
I was skeptical of how the media could be liberal. The conglomerates that own them and the advertisers that pay their bills aren't traditionally thought of liberal. But, you can't argue with facts. And, I'm beginning to imagine that mass media is filled with many more liberals that I ever suspected.
According to The Wall Street Journal and Harris Poll people who call themselves Liberal, more than those who call themselves Moderate or Conservative, view Bush as trying to make the Supreme Court "too liberal."
"Do you think President Bush is trying to make the Supreme Court too conservative, too liberal, or neither too conservative nor too liberal?" (See the poll, as of 12/8/2005.)
| Response | Total | Conservative | Moderate | Liberal |
| Too conservative | 42% | 20% | 50% | 67% |
| Too liberal | 9 | 9 | 7 | 11 |
| Neither too conservative nor too liberal | 44 | 65 | 42 | 18 |
| Not sure/refused | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
These Harris Poll findings suggest that Liberals are most likely to call Bush too liberal. With this in mind, mainstream media is filled with Liberals complaining that everything is too liberal.
Sharing these finding with a Bush-supporting colleague prompted the reply, "But, studies have show there are more Democrats in media than Republicans." Not to worry. According to the same Harris Poll, Democrats are most likely to view Bush as trying to make the Supreme Court "too liberal."
"Do you think President Bush is trying to make the Supreme Court too conservative, too liberal, or neither too conservative nor too liberal?"
| Response | Total | Republican | Democrat | Independent |
| Too conservative | 42% | 16% | 63% | 50% |
| Too liberal | 9 | 5 | 12 | 7 |
| Neither too conservative nor too liberal | 44 | 75 | 20 | 41 |
| Not sure/refused | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
According to this research, Liberals and Democrats are most likely to see Bush as making the Supreme Court too liberal. This could explain the perception of media's Liberal bias. Those proclaiming the media is "too liberal" might call themselves Liberal and see like-minded folks all around them and therefore think media really has a liberal bias. If only we could get these Liberals out we might be able to make sense of media.
Do Liberals view Bush as too liberal? Harris Poll's Chairman Humphrey Taylor responded, "The numbers are certainly bizarre. My guess is that -- as we have shown in a poll last year -- not everyone understands the words liberal and conservative and that some of these people are just confused. I cannot think of a better explanation."
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