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Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
Here's the thing...
Even a neutral positioned media can seem biased when the perspective it is being judged from is from far to one side.
Most people like to think that they are balanced and neutral to a degree, but what "neutral" means changes in different populations. In Alberta, where there is a cultural tendency towards conservatism, a "neutral" position isn't likely to be accepted without some resistance. Vice versa for a liberal province like Quebec.
As a whole, the country tends to be more liberal than Alberta and more conservative than Quebec, which is probably why CBCs middle position always seems to irritate the majority in both those provinces.
I guess the point is that it's all about perspective. Neutrality is defined by the range of opinions in a population. That means that in a Canada, the middle ground might be different than in the States.
One thing about CBC though is that they know where they get their funding. Since Harper has been PM, they have been a lot more friendly to both sides. If the Conservatives win a majority, then I suspect the swing will be even more obvious.
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I'm a liberal, but I think the media does have at least a socially liberal bias. The thing is, I think it's a reflective bias, that is, it reflects the bias of the majority of the population and the people who actuially write the news. FOX news seems to have a directive bias, in that they are directed what to say regardless of what the larger population looks like.
Economically, the media seems centrist or even rightist. Tax cuts seem to get just as much play as social spending, and tax hikes are vilified even when they're necessary and justified.