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Liberal Bias On Social Security.

A new study from the Media Research Center’s Free Market Project found Social Security coverage on the five major networks biased toward the left by a margin of 2 to 1 (click for full .pdf)(via Social Security Choice):

- CBS and CNN Most Biased: On “CBS Evening News,” 56 percent of stories were liberal with just 20 percent conservative. CBS reports were loaded with extreme examples that played up liberal points. CNN’s “Inside Politics” was worse statistically with 61 percent liberal and 22 percent conservative.

- Fox News Most Balanced: Fox News’ “Special Report with Brit Hume” delivered an equal 30 percent liberal and 30 percent conservative stories, with the remaining 40 percent neutral.

- Networks Embrace ‘Transition Costs’ Scare Tactic: Journalists repeatedly indicated that the cost of changing over to personal accounts was too high. This point was made 10 times more often than it was challenged, and the financial principles that refuted it were largely ignored.

GRAPHS (click on them to go to the original .pdf study):

Overall, networks skew the debate in the liberal direction, 2-to-1:

Fox News truly has been fair and balanced on the Social Security debate, while CNN and CBS have been the worst:

Liberals have put their heads in the sand on this issue, arguing from the absurd point of view that "there is no crisis," that the market is "too risky," and that the costs of reform are too high:

Conservatives have stressed that there is a crisis, that the market gets a better average return than Social Security, and that the program faces insolvency problems:

CNN is the by far the most biased cable television news organization on the issue of Social Security:

How did the study determine media bias objectively?

The study analyzed use of liberal and conservative talking points, focusing on 125 stories mostly or completely devoted to Social Security. Talking points on both sides of the issue were coded, designated “liberal” or “conservative,” and tallied. If the ratio of talking points for the two sides was greater than 1.5, then that story was considered to reflect the position of the side with the most talking points. Stories that had a 1.5-to-1 or less ratio were categorized as “neutral.”

Michelle Malkin has a good rundown of the blatant left-wing media distortion following the President's press conference last night:

Bush's indexing plan is moderate and reasonable. Unfortunately, the combination of Democrats' demagoguery and the MSM's relentlessly negative coverage may bring the plan down before it even gets off the ground.

David Hogberg believes Clinton would have received glowing news coverage for the plan President Bush unveiled last night:

Can there be any doubt that if the plan advanced last night had been proposed by the previous administration, the headlines would have read, “Clinton Social Security Plan Boost For The Poor”? I’d put at least a $100 on that.

The media bias we've seen following President Bush's reelection is at least as slanted as it has been at any point over the past decade. It's really unbelievable how concerted the elite media's effort has been to make the President a lame duck.

A theory on this:

The media establishment types have become emboldened, not humbled, by the rise of Fox News, the blogosphere, talk radio, etc. They feel like it is their duty to balance the "right wing" media, so they have moved even further to the left. Because so many conservatives have already turned away from the so-called "mainstream media," the old guard of left-wing media (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, etc.) feel like they have very little to lose, and indeed much to gain, by catering to liberal viewers.

UPDATE:
PoliPundit notes a liberal backtrack:

Here’s a gem of a headline from today’s Associated Press wire:

“Bush’s Social Security Plan Cuts Benefits.”

Um, well, yeah, I guess that would be one way in which you might headline an article about the Prez’s speech from yesterday evening. If, of course, you’re a group of angry, trust-funded, partisan-Democratic liberals, who despise George Bush and everything for which he stands.

Posted by Will Franklin · 29 April 2005 03:06 PM

Comments

Posted by: Zsa Zsa at April 29, 2005 04:29 PM

Posted by: Beverly at April 29, 2005 05:12 PM

Posted by: Taffy at April 30, 2005 12:32 PM