Well, I wanted to take just a quick sampling of headlines to explore the bias we find in the media. These are headlines taken from the websites of various media outlets. The question is LEFT, RIGHT or CENTER:
CBS News (Oct.28, 2004, 5:30pm):
MAIN HEADLINE:
Bush, Kerry Rock-N-Brawl (includes photo-op of Kerry and Springsteen)
SUB HEADLINES:
• Springsteen: This Is For John
• Kerry Flying High
• Ailing Arafat Headed To France
• Bush Courts Swing States
• Polish Hostage Begs For Life
• Explosives Mystery Unravels
• FBI Broadens Halliburton Probe
Bureau Eyes How VP Cheney’s Ex-Company Won No-Bid Iraq Contracts
• IAEA: U.S. Warned On Explosives
• Iraq Hostage Drama Escalates
• UN Workers Grabbed In Afghanistan
CBS seemed extremely slanted, and has over the course of the last few months. Ironically enough, I posted on my blog about CBS’s issues back in February. Even the headlines here are so pathetically one sided, its amazing its not KBS.
ABC News (Oct.28, 2004, 5:30pm):
MAIN HEADLINE:
Hard Campaigning in Final Days (smug close-up of Bush)
SUB HEADLINES:
• Poll: Most Voters Confident Vote Will Be Counted
• Voters Sick and Tired of Election Anxiety
• Break-Ins, Shootings Mar Bush-Kerry Race
• Arafat to be sent to hospital
• U.N. nuclear agency says it warned U.S. explosives were vulnerable.
• Iraq Militants Issue Hostage Death Threat to Japan
• Group Claims to Kill Kidnapped Iraq Troops
ABC news seemed fairly impartial, but they also lack the up-to-date stories that drudgereport.com offers.
FOX News (Oct.28, 2004, 5:30pm):
MAIN HEADLINE:
• Candidates Roll Out Star Power (photo: Kerry & Springsteen shaking hands)
• Time For Big Guns – explosives still center stage
• Hunt for Ammo Clues – defense department analyzing satellite photos
SUB HEADLINES:
• FBI Probing Halliburton
• Ailing Arafat Going to Paris
• Group: 11 Iraqi Troops Killed
• ABC Holds Off on Terror Tape
• Weekly Jobless Claims Up
• Fraud File: Fla., Ohio Watched
• FEC: Unlimited Recount Funds OK
FOX news (despite what I’ve said before) didn’t seem all that slanted. They had a headline about the Haliburton issue (which seems an unpleasant report for Bush.) They did deal a lot with the ‘missing explosives’ which could be harmful for Bush, and it seemed to take the side of refuting it. I don’t think there’s enough evidence (there is now an inconclusive video that surfaced, with Pentagon claims to the contrary) out there to say either way conclusively. Kerry is pulling a Dan Rather and using it in his campaign despite inconclusive evidence. You go boy.
CNN.com (Oct.28, 2004, 6:00pm):
MAIN HEADLINE:
• Doctor: Arafat has blood platelet deficiency (photo: stocking cap, smiling Arafat)
SUB HEADLINES:
• Bush, Kerry trade barbs on campaign trail
• Militants claim killings of 11 Iraqis
• New Hannibal Lecter novel due next fall
• Man says live wire in bath was to save marriage
Going to CNN for news is like drinking out of the school water fountain. Yeah, it’s got water, but it tastes terrible and stale.
drudgereport.com (Oct.28, 2004, 6:15pm):
MAIN HEADLINE:
• WORLD EXCLUSIVE: ABCNEWS TO AIR TERROR TAPE ON WORLD NEWS TONIGHT AT 6:30 EST – TERROR TAPE WARNS OF BUSH, CHENEY CONSEQUENCE…
SUB HEADLINES:
• CIA, FBI AUTHENTICATE NEW QAEDA TERROR TAPE; ABCNEWS EXECUTIVES CONSIDER POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF AIRING
• Russia tied to Iraq´s missing arms; Pentagon: Weaponry relocated before war…
• OIL PRICE DROPS $5 IN TWO DAYS…
• AP: FBI Investigating Halliburton Contracts…
• Documents Show Iraqis May Be Overstating Amount of Missing Material…
• Teresa Critcizes ‘Neanderthal’ Attacks On Husband…
• Arafat Agrees to Be Taken to Paris for Treatment…
• Bush Flips The Bird In Early 90’s Video
Drudge is probably my favorite. He leans to the right, but he consistently puts up stories that would be controversial to each side… and what’s more, his site is great. Updated quickly, first with the big stories, clean uncluttered interface. Definitely my first choice.
WhatReallyHappened.com (Oct.28, 2004, 6:00pm):
HEADLINES:
• Nuclear watchdog insists Iraq explosives taken after US invasion
• 179 countries vote against the blockade of Cuba at the UN
• Disputed Iraq Explosives in Place After Invasion, Video Shows
• 911 : New Cover-up revealed? 9/11 Black Boxes “found”
• Russia denies removing explosives from Iraq
• Gov. Bush: Poll watchers can, should challenge voters
• FLASHBACK: ‘US knew Iraq was WMD free’
• A cross country survey finds that college students support Kerry over Bush by a wide margin. (caption: Students are the ones who will pay their blood for a war based on lies.)
• Twelve ways Bush is now stealing the Ohio vote
What Really Happened is blatantly left-wing. It has an occasional good lead, but its so marred with far-fetched, nonsensical sources that it’s hard to know what’s believable, what’s not.
