Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Yesterday afternoon I interviewed Tim Groseclose of UCLA for Uncommon Knowledge. Tim is a real bird of paradise--young, irresistibly engaging, and such a wonderfully accomplished political scientist and economist that bigtime universities (in addition to holding a tenured chair at UCLA, Tim has taught at Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and Harvard) more or less have to take him seriously, despite his openly conservative politics.
Our topic: Tim's new book, Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind.
For years, of course, conservatives have been saying that the mainstream media is biased. Tim takes the complaint, investigates it, and then proves it. And then? He shows that it matters--much more than you may have supposed. From Left Turn:
My results suggest that media bias aids Democratic candidates about 8 to 10 percentage points in a typical election. I find, for instance, that if media bias didn’t exist, then John McCain would have defeated Barack Obama 56-42, instead of losing 53-46.
That's the bad news.
The good news? That Tim will be joining us as a guest contributor next week. If you have questions or comments you'd like to send him, start typing. (I happen to know that he's a faithful, not to say addicted, reader.)
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Aug '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
And then there's the subtle pull of the polls to the undecided. Mr. Zogby I presume ?
Dec '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
This should be a very useful tool in de-programming those indoctrinated by liberal media bias. If they prove immune to its arguments or unwilling even to read it, it can still be used to smack them upside the head to knock some sense into them (or nonsense out of them).
Aug '11
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
I am heartened that it's apparently more than just revisiting the numerous and obvious examples of bias. But, what is the proposed prescription for change? That is, how can a center-right country either overcome the Left turn or rid itself of the predominance of the media Left turners?
May '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
I hope but do not expect that this book will change minds and counter the bias in the media.
Who on the left is going to read this with an open mind? Who in the middle cares? Who on the right does not already know this?
Give the liberal media some competition, as is already happening. It's not going to fix the problem but may help lessen the damage.
An even worse problem is media bias overseas, almost completely dominated by leftist ideas with very little competition.
Sep '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Can't tell you how glad I am there's a Kindle version. I must say, I can't wait to read it, or to see the discussion it should generate...
Sep '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
BTW, this would seem to gel nicely with your interview of Andrew "I WANT EVERYTHING" Brietbart for Uncommon Knowledge, Peter.
Media (and I hate how good it sounds, for obvious reasons), Matters.
Aug '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Let the market work, and eventually the media will balance itself. This wasn't possible in an era of a handful of big glossy magazines, a 'Newspaper of Record', a few other big dailies, and a handful of television channels. The nature of the communications channels created technical monopolies which the liberals controlled.
Now, the market is blown wide open, and the liberal press is dying. Newsweek continually beclowns itself and its readership is plummeting. The New York Times is dying. Fox's new show 'The Five' has only been on the air for a few weeks, and it's already pulling in more viewers than all the other news channels in its time slot combined. Network news is fading in influence and viewership. The blogosphere is not only growing in size, but in stature. And at the very least, conservatives are holding their own there.
Liberals can see these trends as well, which is why there is renewed emphasis on using government to limit speech and control the narrative. This too will fail.
Edited on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:19pmRe: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Wow. Is the whole book full of shocking nuggets like that? I need to get my hands on a copy.
Am very curious about Prof. Groseclose's methodology. Seems like it would be tricky to measure media bias with such precision.
Aug '11
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
What I'm really curious about, Peter, is how one could prove that media bias affected the election outcome with such specificity. This means, of course, I'll need to listen to the interview. (As if I don't already have a backlog on my 'Pod.)
But it's such an audacious claim. Do you think it's valid?
Nov '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Peter, you are usually too gracious to ask your guests really tough questions. However, if you are feeling curmudgeonly, try this one.
Can one really define the point of political neutrality on left-right politcal spectrum objectively? If not, how can one decide whether an absolute directional bias exists in either direction?
Sep '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
What I don't understand is how we've allowed ourselves to get in the situation where we've chosen as the arbiter of competing narratives in an election cycle the very industry that benefits financially from the partisanship requiring such arbitration in the first place. It's the media that primarily benefits from the obscene money being spent in elections, yet reporters (and pundits) act as if we're being rude to point out that everything they write and say about a candidate is inherently suspect. Any way we can get the Second Estate and the Fourth Estate to divorce?
Aug '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Diane Ellis, Ed.:
Am very curious about Prof. Groseclose's methodology. Seems like it would be tricky to measure media bias with such precision. · Aug 17 at 2:20pm
Here's the journal version. In a nutshell, they looked at which think tanks and NGOs various media outlets quoted and then compared this to the ADA scores for Congressmen with similar portfolios of sources.
Sep '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
I always just assume that the media is biased. But I know my parents don't pay to much attention to politics, so when I talk to them they just repeat what the heard on the nightly news. That can be scary because sometimes they vote.
Dec '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Leslie, may I introduce you to the legal profession?
Dec '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
I think the biggest effect of media bias is the "cool factor". Many people feel morally superior by voting Democrat or supporting liberalism, so the nonnews media has much more influence than the news.
There are two advantages, though. The first is that our candidates tend to be much tougher and ride through media storms that Democrats can't negotiate. The second is that the media tries to hold back stories that end up bursting their dam at inopportune times. I'm thinking here of Fast & Furious.
Jan '11
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Is the bias in education a chicken/egg relationship with the media?
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Between Breitbart, Instapundit, Hot Air, PowerLine, NRO, and Ricochet of course, we are slowly but surely changing the media landscape.
I can't wait to download Professor Groseclose's book, and to see him here in our rapidly growing corner of the Internet.
Jul '11
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
So, I'm a curmudgeon, but my response to this book's point is, "so what?"
Is there really a sentient person not of the Leftward Persuasion who doesn't know this? It's the way of the world. The Sun rises in the East; the Media are biased toward the left, and we're not going to change either of them.
We need to just "get over it." Our topic ought to be: how to support and create our own distribution networks, to go around and over them, and how to get us to pay for them.
May '10
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
Professor Groseclose,
Media lies seem prevalent if not downright viral. Do you have any ideas on how to keep the "Fact-Checkers" honest? In other words, how does one fact-check the Fact-Checkers?
Mar '11
Re: Tim Groseclose: Media Bias is Worse Than You Think
I'm about half-way through the book, but will knock out the other couple of chapters between now and the time Prof. Groseclose joins us on Ricochet. I second the praise for the Kindle version.
There are a number arresting points in his book, and I look forward to discussing them with him. Glad he'll join us.