Report: Liberal bias in the media exists for state broadcasters - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

transplant99 · 03-31-2011, 07:52 AM

Quote:

BBC, the mother of all state broadcasters, was described in a 2007 study as having "an innate liberal bias." The same report, commissioned by the BBC itself, quoted Richard Klein, commissioning editor for documentaries, as saying, "by and large, people who work at the BBC think the same and it's not the way the audience thinks. That's not long-term sustainable."

Accusations of a left wing bias at National Public Radio in the United States, combined with some explosive video showing the views executives hold towards conservative-minded Americans, resulted in a vote to defund NPR.

IMO its almost impossible to have a "straight down the center" media group anywhere. Afterall no matter whther public or privately owned, they are all run by humans and humans have bias through their experiences.

It is somewhat of a problem though when the money to exist comes from taxpayers who would include those who don't think the same way. How much does it matter? Up for debate I guess, but for sure there is a valid complaing by the more conservative people against any state funded media.

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/decis.../17814956.html

WilsonFourTwo · 03-31-2011, 08:04 AM

Meh, it's not a real surprise.

To be honest, I don't really care if (for example) the CBC unintentionally leans a little to left. The reality is that the majority of viewers are going to identify/understand the majority of the information. That's a successful mandate in my books, especially considering you can please everyone all the time.

It only bothers me when programming is intentionally manipulated and then broadcast as "News" (ala Fox News).

Sliver · 03-31-2011, 08:26 AM

The truth has a liberal bias.

transplant99 · 03-31-2011, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

Meh, it's not a real surprise.

To be honest, I don't really care if (for example) the CBC unintentionally leans a little to left. The reality is that the majority of viewers are going to identify/understand the majority of the information. That's a successful mandate in my books, especially considering you can please everyone all the time.

It only bothers me when programming is intentionally manipulated and then broadcast as "News" (ala Fox News).

Yeah and again its not that big of a deal to me personally, but certainly you would also agree that a Fox news channel has every right to exist as it does because it is a private broadcaster, whereas any left leaning entity that is paid for by the public really shouldnt have an obvious bias (like MSNBC) without giving the other side a valid argument against it.

transplant99 · 03-31-2011, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sliver

The truth has a liberal bias.

I quite literally have no idea what this means....the truth is liberal?

Sliver · 03-31-2011, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transplant99

I quite literally have no idea what this means....the truth is liberal?

It's a popular liberal line right now. It just means liberals view themselves as having opinions that better reflect reality compared to conservatives.

troutman · 03-31-2011, 08:37 AM

Is it bias if Liberals are objectively better?

CaptainCrunch · 03-31-2011, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sliver

The truth has a liberal bias.

Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party.
Joseph Stalin

YYC in LAX · 03-31-2011, 08:42 AM

This book is very, "American," and was current for the times in 2005, but a pretty good read on the subject if you are interested. It's not officially affiliated with South Park but uses some of its episodes as references.

Synopsis: According to author and political journalist Anderson, for the better part of 30 years, liberal bias has dominated mainstream media. Now he reveals that the era of liberal dominance is going "the way of the dodo bird.

WilsonFourTwo · 03-31-2011, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transplant99

Yeah and again its not that big of a deal to me personally, but certainly you would also agree that a Fox news channel has every right to exist as it does because it is a private broadcaster, whereas any left leaning entity that is paid for by the public really shouldnt have an obvious bias (like MSNBC) without giving the other side a valid argument against it.

Just to clarify......I'm OK with public money going to the CBC, even though they clearly have a slight and unintentional left-leaning bias. I also think that the public broadcaster does a fairly solid job of representing other viewpoints (At Issue panel, for example).

I would be entirely against public money going to Fox News. They intentionally and systematically distort the picture to serve a specific bias. This is "Entertainment" more than news, and indicative of what happens when news is left up to private enterprise.

FlamesAddiction · 03-31-2011, 08:58 AM

Judging by election results over the past several years, the majority of Canadians seem to be either centre or left of centre. Not surprising that the public broadcater would reflect that.

troutman · 03-31-2011, 09:06 AM

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=101

Independent, aggressive and critical media are essential to an informed democracy. But mainstream media are increasingly cozy with the economic and political powers they should be watchdogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media. With U.S. media outlets overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, independent journalism is compromised.

Ultimately, FAIR believes that structural reform is needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting, and promote strong, non-profit alternative sources of information.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=121

Media have tremendous power in setting cultural guidelines and in shaping political discourse. It is essential that news media, along with other institutions, are challenged to be fair and accurate. The first step in challenging biased news coverage is documenting bias. Here are some questions to ask yourself about newspaper, TV and radio news.</B />

Flabbibulin · 03-31-2011, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sliver

It's a popular liberal line right now. It just means liberals view themselves as having opinions that better reflect reality compared to conservatives.

You mean one side of the political spectrum actually thinks their ideas and viewpoints are better?! I would never think such a thing was possible in politics.

After some deliberation and careful examination, I came up with a carefully worded retort to your post:

"Truth has a conservative bias. It just means that conservatives view themselves as having opinions that better reflect reality compared to liberals"

Sliver · 03-31-2011, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

You mean one side of the political spectrum actually thinks their ideas and viewpoints are better?! I would never think such a thing was possible in politics.

After some deliberation and careful examination, I came up with a carefully worded retort to your post:

"Truth has a conservative bias. It just means that conservatives view themselves as having opinions that better reflect reality compared to liberals"

It's a fact that it is a current liberal catch phrase. It's not like I made that up lol.

mykalberta · 03-31-2011, 09:36 AM

The companies that run the news stations themselves have no direct bias, its just what happens when the majority of Universities are agnostic socially progressive institutions and thats who these companies hire.

This isnt the 60s when you had 3 channels and you had faith in what the anchor provided for you was the whole truth. Today everyone on either side of the political spectrum need to be their own aggregators of information.

Frequitude · 03-31-2011, 09:36 AM

There definitely seems to be a Liberal bias in the Canadian media throughout this campaign so far, but I can't blame them. The middle's a pretty safe place to be.

Sliver · 03-31-2011, 09:39 AM

lol this thread is the fifth hit on Google for "the truth has a liberal bias".

Weiser Wonder · 03-31-2011, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sliver

It's a fact that it is a current liberal catch phrase. It's not like I made that up lol.

It's a line used in American Politics that has some truth to it nowadays because the Republican Party is almost entirely corrupt and no longer engage in honest political discourse. The quote doesn't have much of a ring to it in Canada, where both sides still seem to engage in honest discourse.

As for its origins, I think the quote is actually "Reality has a liberal bias" and I believe Colbert said it first.

Sliver · 03-31-2011, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weiser Wonder

It's a line used in American Politics that has some truth to it nowadays because the Republican Party is almost entirely corrupt and no longer engage in honest political discourse. The quote doesn't have much of a ring to it in Canada, where both sides still seem to engage in honest discourse.

True dat.

SeoulFire · 03-31-2011, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weiser Wonder

It's a line used in American Politics that has some truth to it nowadays because the Republican Party is almost entirely corrupt and no longer engage in honest political discourse. The quote doesn't have much of a ring to it in Canada, where both sides still seem to engage in honest discourse.

As for its origins, I think the quote is actually "Reality has a liberal bias" and I believe Colbert said it first.

That made me lol. I rarely lol.