[Brian23023]

Do you believe the media is biased politically, racially, religously or otherwise? As the managing editor of a newspaper, I strive to be fair in all of our coverage, yet I still hear this complaint. Sometimes it's obvious that the complainer simply doesn't want his or her issue covered, period. What do you think?

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Name : Brian23023, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Peru, State : IN Country : United States, Occupation : journalist, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Arnold-U23787]

Yes, it is biased. How do I know? The homosexual lobby is intolerant of Judeo-Christian values. (Intolerance in the name of tolerance.) I have yet to see someone in a media present a view contrary to that of GLAAD. Do I hear any news about citizens in the United States being discriminated against because of their faith? Do I hear news about missionaries being persecuted?

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Name : Arnold-U23787, Gender : M, City : Edmonton, Alberta, State : NA Country : Canada, 

[Sarah-Jayne28380]

I'm not saying all journalists have an axe to grind, but like other human beings, no one is really unbiased. For example, my impression is that in the United States there is a much more right-wing/conservative atmosphere than in Australia, and that is reflected in journalism. In the United States, the Religious Right seems to be given a kind of legitimacy that the Australian media does not give them (to the credit of the Australian media).

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Name : Sarah-Jayne28380, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Melbourne, State : NA Country : Australia, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[JerryS]

I think a lot of this lies in the perceptions of the audience. There was a 'Far Side' cartoon captioned 'What dogs hear'; a person was talking, and the dog heard 'blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah blah, Ginger, blah....' People suffer from the same selectivity to a degree, and anything that hits their particular button jumps off the page at them. Add to this the human desire to have the whole world nod in agreement when we speak (or even think), and you have a perception of bias where none might exist. That's why you often see letters to the editor from opposite sides of an issue, both complaining about an article being slanted against them. However, it's also pretty clear that reporters have their own sympathies. Even if they try their best to be evenhanded, there is always the choice of what to put in, what to leave out, what to lead with, and what to bury in the third paragraph. An editor who has to trim an article by 1/3 will also use his own judgement; he won't just cross out every third word. I think it's impossible for bias to be avoided completely. Presenting tabular or graphic data, which you'd think are objective, still involves decided what to put on top, what on the left, what to be cross-hatched and what to be black, etc.

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Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[G. Chan]

All media that is privately owned will have private interests, whether right-wing, left-wing or no-wing. Turn on the television. Ninety to 95 percent of the news you see is owned by and filtered through private companies. CNN and The New York Times are as capitalistic as McDonalds and Nike. For private companies, news IS property, and news IS owned. There is no way that companies owned by an extremely minute number of people will truly serve broader societal concerns. It is the business of manufacturing consent and maintaining the status quo. In the history of news media, truth in news has always worked for and favored those in power, and in the context of North America and Europe, it is the White Christian Patriarchal Capitalist Heterosexual Male status quo. Did you know there were 20,000 protesters during George W. Bushs inauguration? Of course not. Because THEY think you shouldnt know. It would affect your opinion of what true democracy means. It is the art of masquerading and twisting, or worst of all, not showing actual facts and presenting it as 'objectivity.' As a human being first, and a journalist second, it is in your best interest and in societys interest that you read 'Manufacturing Consent' and 'Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies' By Noam Chomsky (see amazon.com) and watch the documentary of the same name.

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Name : G. Chan, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Part German, Japanese, and Haitian, Religion : Buddhist, Age : 24, City : Montréal, Quebec, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : Social Worker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Carlotta19240]

You are entitled to your religious beliefs as long as you do not impose them on others. Missionaries, and many Christians in general, try to impose their views on others. That is why they are not tolerated.

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Name : Carlotta19240, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 24, City : Sydney, State : NA Country : Australia, 

[Lisa]

The media, simply by making decisions on what is and isn't news, puts a certain slant on the news people get. I don't know if its possible for the media to be unbiased, given that choices must be made as to what to cover and what not cover. That said, however, I think our current news coverage could show more balance by questioning the 'official' views of different issues. Too much of what we see and read today is little more than press releases from government and business sources.

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Name : Lisa, City : Milwaukee, State : WI Country : United States, 

[Mixcoatl20276]

The media is biased, especially in the United States. I have seen that Europe and Latin America have a more global vision of the news, while with CNN, CBS, NBC or other U.S.-based media, their news is always from the point of view not of the 'Americans' but from what they think Americans should think or be. For example, in Europe they have a sense that everything that happens around the world affects history. The same with Latin America. But with U.S. media, they put in only the 'important' news. By important I mean they show only news coming from United States, Western Europe and U.S. wars, and that's it. They forget about their own neighbors, their continents and even other continents. More than a right or left bias, it's more a matter of 'importance' bias. The U.S. media thinks the Robert Blake case is far more important than the Mexico-Cuba crisis, or East Timor elections, or even politics in East Europe.

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Name : Mixcoatl20276, Gender : M, Race : Hñahñu/Asturian/Toltec, Age : 20, City : Nuevo Laredo, State : NA Country : Mexico, 

[Amy31572]

I find it very interesting that every person repsonding to this prompt is from a country outside the United States and reserved their criticisms solely for U.S. media. Maybe the question itself was too broad and should be narrowed to a smaller spectrum? Or maybe people should stop pointing fingers, especially when they are not party to direct coverage anyway.

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Name : Amy31572, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 34, City : New York City, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Business executive, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Tali24822]

The media is biased because there aren't enough minorities in journalism. The New York Times definitely has an anti-China and anti-Asian bias because it keeps printing articles about how China is taking over the economy, about how the West is going down (implying that the West is better) and crap like that. We need more people of color in journalism and editing.

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Name : Tali24822, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 18, City : NYC, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Factory Worker, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

[DW]

I am a former daily newspaper editor and writer. During my newspaper career, I would have soon be killed than to concede bias on the part of journalists or their media outlets but age, wisdom and experience have since shown me otherwise. My colleagues and I strived to be as objective and impartial as possible. I don't know that we always succeeded, but at least we tried. Some journalists do a better job of it than others -- while some blatantly cast their stories in a particular light. The bias may be conscious or unintended and can creep in due to any number of reasons including but not limited to pressure from advertisers (e.g. car dealers who typically wield significant influence), the publisher's or other management preferences and the reporter's own viewpoint. Consider our own preconceived notions. By 'our,' I mean the media. I'll bet you didn't think Dan Rather had a liberal bias, but that you think Fox News (cable) puts a conservative spin on their stories. Do you watch Fox News? I'll bet not! Another example: Do you think the Wall Street Journal is a conservative newspaper and the New York Times a liberal publication? Answer honestly! Most conservatives charge the media is liberal and biased and they turn to Fox News and the Wall Street Journal for 'objective' reporting, while liberals like CNN and the New York Times and think Fox News and the Wall Street Journal are biased. I could go on but I think you get my drift about spin.

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Name : DW, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 38, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Journalist, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Kerry]

The media is run by people, and as one poster noted, all people have biases. We try to minimize them, we try to be fair, but nonetheless, what you think people are 'interested' in hearing is going to be colored by your biases. Journalists can't cover every single story that goes on. So you choose some things, and let others die. Congratulations on trying to be as fair as possible. We need more like you.

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Name : Kerry, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 31, City : Ventura, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Stage Worker, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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