Wednesday's Biased Item - October 10, 2007
Should Chris Matthews be Allowed to Moderate GOP Debates?
Excerpt
INSTRUCTIONS:Read the excerpt below from Noel Sheppard's Oct. 8th Newsbusters.org post. Scroll down and read "Types of Media Bias." Then answer the question.
QUESTION:
1. Do you agree with Noel Sheppard's suggestion that liberals moderate Republican debates, and conservatives moderate Democrat debates? Explain your answer.
EXCERPT (from the NewsBusters.org post):
In the wake of MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews's deplorable comments regarding the Bush administration having "finally been caught in their criminality," many conservatives are wondering if this clearly left-leaning pundit should be allowed to moderate GOP presidential debates including [the debate Oct. 10].
To address the growing controversy, Fox News's "Fox & Friends" invited media members from both sides of the aisle Monday morning to debate the issue. On the left were Ellis Henican of Newsday and Ellen Ratner of FNC; on the right were radio host Herman Cain and Jim Pinkerton of Newsday (video available here courtesy Johnny Dollar).
In the end, I strongly agree with Henican and Cain who felt that candidates should be willing and able to answer anybody's questions regardless of political leaning if they want to attain the highest office in the land.
In fact, I would take this a step further: Let's have debates where exclusively the top liberal pundits in the land are moderating Republican events, and the top conservative pundits in the land are moderating Democrat events.
Think about it: When you go on a job interview, you don't expect to get softballs thrown at you. Instead, you prepare for a veritable inquisition.
Shouldn't our political candidates be so put to the test?
Frankly, I'm tired of debates where everybody's nice and cordial. We're currently at war, and our nation faces some very tough decisions in the next decade.
As such, I'd like to see ALL these candidates mercilessly grilled as if their lives depend on it, because ours certainly do. ...
- Go to NewsBusters.org for the original posting.
ANSWER:
1. OPINION QUESTION. Answers vary.
To accurately identify different types of bias, you should be aware of the issues of the day, and the liberal and conservative perspectives on each issue. (See our chart “Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs”)
Types of Media Bias:
Omission – leaving one side out of an article or a series of articles over a period of time... (read more)
Selection of Sources – including more sources that support one view over another... (read more)
Story Selection – a pattern of highlighting news stories that support one side of an issue over another... (read more)
Placement – the location in the paper or article where a story or event is printed; a pattern of placing news stories so as to downplay information supportive of one side... (read more)
Labeling – comes in two forms: 1. Tagging of person from one party or group with extreme labels while leaving the other side unlabeled or with more mild labels. 2. A reporter not only fails to identify a liberal or conservative as such, but also describes the person or group with positive labels, such as “an expert” or “independent consumer group”... (read more)
Spin – occurs when the story has only one interpretation of an event or policy, to the exclusion of the other. Spin involves tone- a reporter’s subjective comments about objective facts... (read more)
Previous Biased Items
- The NY Times: A Year-Long Analysis: Part 1
August 27, 2008 - Washington Post Ombudsman: ‘3 to 1’ Obama Front Page Advantage
August 20, 2008 - Poll Shows Majority of Americans Believe Reporters Try to Help Their Candidates Win
June 11, 2008 - The Great Media Depression
June 4, 2008 - The AP Maligns Our Soldiers On Memorial Day Weekend
May 28, 2008
