The CNBC debate has sparked a number of conversations on the very real issue of liberal bias in the media. As Professor Jacobson pointed out last night, this is an opportunity for Republicans.
When the issue is being discussed seriously on MSNBC, you know we’ve reached a turning point. Yesterday on Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough challenged his panelists to answer a simple question.
Mark Finkelstein of NewsBusters has the story:
Scarborough: No Republican Has Hosted Network Sunday Show or Newscast in 50 YearsIn the wake of the CNBC debate debacle, Joe Scarborough went on an epic rant on liberal media bias on today’s Morning Joe. He summed things up this way, in challenging the panel: “you can’t do it and nobody here can do it: name the single Republican that has hosted a Sunday show, that has been an anchor of a news network for the big three networks over the past 50 years: you can not do it.”Mark Halperin largely agreed, saying “there’s huge liberal media bias.” But Mike Barnicle actually claimed that having fair moderators would be a bad thing for Republicans because they would lose their ability to run against the media.JOE SCARBOROUGH: Somehow, if you’re George Stephanopoulos –MIKA BRZEZINSKI: — it’s okay.JOE: — it’s okay, because you’re a Democrat and if you’re Tim Russert, it’s okay. All I am saying to you, and you can’t do it and nobody here can do it: name the single Republican that has hosted a Sunday show, that has been an anchor of a news network for the big three networks over the past 50 years: you can not do it! So we Republicans, what I’m explaining to you we’re told to sit back. –MARK HALPERIN: Tony Snow.JOE: Tony Snow, did he host, what, Fox News Sunday? HALPERIN: Yeah.JOE: Fox News Sunday. I just said ABC, CBS, NBC, you can’t do it and nobody out there, no media critic can do it.
Here’s the video:
The Washington Free Beacon has a slightly longer video of the same segment.
Timothy P. Carney of the Washington Examiner recently made an excellent point on this topic as well:
Yes, liberal media bias is real, and here’s how it affected the CNBC debateThe New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC — the largest media outlets with the exception of Fox News — all slant clearly left. So do a vast majority of other major newspapers and magazines. I’m not talking about their opinion pages, but about their news operations.I don’t think it’s deliberate, or that any collusion, deception, or bad intentions are at play, except in the rarest circumstances. I also think very highly of many of the journalists whose personal views are significantly to the Left of the American political center. Many of them do an excellent job of reporting the news fairly and trying to understand political viewpoints all around the spectrum.But the vast majority of journalists at these major outlets are generally liberal, and this ends up slanting their coverage.
Read the rest here.
Featured image via YouTube.
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