J201 Lecture Evaluating journalism for bias Recent charges of liberal bias have a long history Spiro Agnew s nattering nabobs of negativity Richard Nixon cuts funding to elitist PBS array of different activist groups from the moral majority to religious right to Christian conservatives during the Reagan years culture wars during Clinton years Organizations which argue that the media have a liberal bias Media Research Center www mediaresearch org Accuracy in Media www aim org Citizens Coalition for Responsible Media www fairpress org Recent charges of conservative bias also have a long history Government lies from Vietnam and Watergate Conservative think tanks sponsoring campus news FCC abandons the Fairness Doctrine in 1980s Increasing conglomeration and concentration of media through the 1990s Organizations which argue that the media have a conservative bias Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting www fair org Media Transparency mediatransparency org Project Censored www projectcensored org But liberal bias vs conservative bias is the wrong argument to have We conflate liberal with Democrat and conservative with Republican Many beliefs like religion or environmentalism defy categorization as either liberal or conservative We ignore the variations like fiscally conservative but socially liberal Most people when asked say they are moderate Terms liberal and conservative are themselves biased and change dramatically over time results in our class political compass 81 identified as left libertarian and 7 as right authoritarian voting choice 70 voted for Kerry 30 for Bush What we should be asking How do we define good journalism What factors contribute to the quality of journalism What should you do when you find bad journalism What should you do when you find bad journalism Consider scale one article one journalist one newspaper one media company or all media Consider history a pattern or an isolated incident Consider intent was mistake accidental avoidable Consider effects who stands to gain from mistake Consider yourself do you harbor any biases
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