Column: GOP Willfully Sees Liberal Message In News

This story was written by Ryan Quinn, The Daily Gamecock

Ever had a view that was constantly denounced and refuted by "the media"? Did you react by saying that "the media" is corrupt, that it is out to get you? That it is the b-word? You know ... biased? Or did you ever pause to think that if almost every trained journalist and intellectual thinks differently from you, it may bebecause you are wrong?

Republicans, including their political leaders, have constantly blamed the "liberal media" for writing articles that expose the flaws in their ideologies and policies. And by liberal media, they don't just mean the San Francisco Chronicle and other selected sources; they mean all of it. In a video I recently watched, Sarah Palin mentioned The New York Times and the crowd actually booed. The New York Times. America's crown jewel of journalism. The definition of news.

Studies indicate that the more an article tries to show both sides to a story, the more both Republicans and Democrats denounce it as biased. The fact that The New York Times is well-written is possibly why it is seen by Republicans as part of the liberal media. So what do they see as fair and balanced? Why, FOX News of course.

FOX gets more viewers than any of the other networks, and its owner, News Corporation, is the fourth-largest media company in the world. So why is it not considered part of the corrupt media? Is it because it is purposefully tailored to social conservatives to get ratings? Considering News Corporation also produces the irreverent "Family Guy," publishes a paper in the United Kingdom that contains a nude pin-up and routinely refuses to publish books that are critical of the Chinese government, it seems that it is not biased for the sake of ideology. It doesn't believe in Sean Hannity's free, moral America; it simply knows that conservative loud-mouths like Bill O'Reilly get more ratings than liberal loudmouths like Keith Olbermann. News Corporation is biased only for the money.

Perhaps Republicans need to stop calling foul on the media and consider changing their thinking. Yes, there are biased news sources: the San Francisco Chronicle and a good bit of MSNBC are liberal, and FOX News and the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal are often conservative. But the only bias that the media as a whole has is a bias toward the facts.

If the facts are not favoring you, you have no right to insult the credibility of the entire media -- especially not The New York Times. I've even seen the Viewpoints section of this paper labeled as biased online. These people certainly cannot be daily readers.

By the way, a self-described Republican or Democrat calling a news medium biased is inherently foolish. By labeling themselves as one or the other, they have expressed their bias and effectively thrown their opinion right out the window. Ah, the joys of being an independent.