"Bias" in the media is a myth

Conservatives have been on the rampage about taxpayer support for NPR, claiming that the government shouldn't support liberal news organizations. Let's look at that claim for a minute. I maintain that the complaints about "liberal bias" at NPR tell us more about the complainers than about NPR.

I've challenged conservatives several times for examples of NPR's alleged "bias." So far, no takers. If you, gentle reader, have objective evidence that NPR News is biased, please let me know.

Remember the leftist zealots from the 60's? They had a black-or-white, no-middle-ground view of the world. They were convinced that everyone who wasn't with them was the enemy. This was exemplified by Eldridge Cleaver's famous statement, "You're either part of the solution, or part of the problem."

Today's conservative zealots have exactly the same black-or-white, no-middle-ground view of the world, equally convinced that everyone who isn't with them is the enemy. Their attitude is exemplified by George W. Bush's statement "You either stand with us or with the terrorists."

What the zealots of both sides have in common are attacks on the press. Why? Simple - because zealots think that everyone who isn't on their side is against them, and when the press does its job and remains neutral, it's seen by both sides as the enemy.

Let's face it, conservatives don't really object to all bias. If they objected to all bias, they'd also express outrage at Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, or others. But do they? No.

So the complaints of today's conservative zealots, like their 1960's leftist counterparts, isn't that the press is biased against them - it's that the press isn't biased towards them. The sad fact is that today's conservative zealots, like their leftists counterparts from the 60's, like bias in the press. They want bias in the press. They just want to make sure it's their bias in the press.