Media Bias?

Ask anyone their opinion of the media and you will get responses, lots of them, and all different! Most of the responses will more than likely be based on the political ideology of the person being polled.

Not surprisingly, most who claim they are conservative say the press is biased toward the left, and those who claim to be Democrat, or at least have a liberal leaning, say the press is either fair or leaning toward the right.

A new Rasmussen poll shows that in reality, a mere 17% of all people, (across all demographic lines,) believe the media is fair and unbiased. According to the poll, "The perception that reporters are advocates rather than observers is held by 82% of Republicans, 56% of Democrats, and 69% of voters not affiliated with either major party. The skepticism about reporters cuts across income, racial, gender, and age barriers."
Rather than going into the old argument about the fairness of a news reporter, journalist, editor or publisher endorsing one candidate or another, or whether it is right or wrong for any media outlet, print or otherwise, to lean one way or another, I would simply like to accept that this is true and actually say it is OK!

I was a publisher and editor of a small paper. I am still a freelance journalist and researcher, and once in a while a pollster, political consultant and analyst. I am a registered Republican and very much a conservative. Most of my commentaries are from this view. I offer no apologies for this.
But, if I own the paper, and it is alright for me to write from my perspective, then I also have to accept that it is alright for someone who owns a media outlet to publish stories from their own perspective. My problem is when the stories are either intellectually or factually dishonest. If I know that the story is biased from one angle or another, but I am being given the facts, I can still discover what is really going on with the story.

What appears to be missing these days is objectivity. It is fine to have a political opinion, and even to report from the view of those opinions. But, if you have to change or ignore the facts to support your opinion, you are doing your readers or viewers a disservice. There have been many times the facts have contradicted my opinion. When this happens, I have no choice but to change my opinion to suit the facts rather than change the facts to fit my opinion.