(Another) Non-Partisan Study Finds “Liberal Media bias” to be a Myth (Again)

Sigh.

This isn’t surprising to anyone who really pays attention. I mean, really pays attention. Why? Because, when you’re really paying attention, you understand that “being informed” includes being informed about the 80% of the news that the Corporate Media is NOT reporting. But here we go again. A non-partisan study has found that, for the first six weeks of the presidential campaign, the Corporate Media has been much harder on Barack Obama than they have on John McCain:

Haters of the mainstream media reheated a bit of conventional wisdom last week.

Barack Obama, they said, was getting a free ride from those insufferable liberals.

Such pronouncements, sorry to say, tend to be wrong since they describe a monolithic media that no longer exists.

(snip)

But now there’s additional evidence that casts doubt on the bias claims aimed — with particular venom — at three broadcast networks.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Obama than on Republican John McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign.

You read it right: tougher on the Democrat.

During the evening news, the majority of statements from reporters and anchors on all three networks are neutral, the center found. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative.

Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative, according to the Washington-based media center.

(snip)

It might be tempting to discount the latest findings by Lichter’s researchers. But this guy is anything but a liberal toady.

In 2006, conservative cable showmen Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly had Lichter, a onetime Fox News contributor, on their programs. They heralded his findings in the congressional midterm election: that the networks were giving far more positive coverage to the Democrats.

More proof of the liberal domination of the media, Beck and O’Reilly declared.

Now the same researchers have found something less palatable to those conspiracy theorists.

I say “Duh.” You may be saying “Oh my goodness, really?” or “Goddurrrnit, them lib’ral medias outta get me, love that nigra hate mah Chris-chin faith-uh anda my wife’s guns hate Amurka love Yurp!” But you’re wrong. The correct answer is still “Duh.”