The Myth of a 'Liberal' Media - Part 1

How often do we hear the phrase ‘liberal media’ tossed around as though it’s so well accepted and acknowledged there is no disputing its accuracy. But is that so? Is media on average more liberal than not? Does the electronic press tilt to the left and by consequence, influence our opinion, policy and legislation? The availability of ‘public information’ is critical to a free press, and by extension, to an informed electorate.



How important is this issue? Perhaps a simple, seemingly unrelated question would help illuminate us. What might occur if you select a group of ten ordinary people, put them in a closed environment, with a radio that airs only one station. Sixteen hours a day, music is played with the other 8 hours dedicated to commercials from two auto manufacturers. Six of those 8 are dedicated to one company who presents the features and advantages of their product, and the other two hours are employed by the other company’s product. The first company has purchased more air time, and were able to hire the best marketing and advertising professionals, promoting ‘facts’ that are sometimes accurate, sometimes ‘partially’ accurate, and sometimes mostly inaccurate, while the second company as a function of limited budget purchased less air time, and used second tier business professionals to present their product. Without even hearing the debate as to which product was better, which one provided the best value, it seems a ‘no-brainer’ that a majority of the ten people who listen to this imaginary radio station would likely buy from the first company. In business circles it’s called ‘branding’. The first company has an advantage over the second. For example, if you’re a parent of a baby, and you can choose between Gerber baby food or Cow & Gate baby food, Does it surprise anyone that Gerber controls 83% of the baby food market today? That’s ‘successful’ branding based on lots of air time and solid top tier marketing efforts. So the question becomes on our imaginary scenario of ten people listening to the radio station, how many of them purchase product from the first company versus the second?



Currently, television and radio are the two most accessible and popular media resources our culture employs for news and commentary. Both have wide viewing and listening among the American public, particularly in the 24/7 news cycle that has increasingly taken over our society as a result of a relaxation of regulation and the ‘advent’ of cable stations that cover every moment of every day’s events. However, does this promote accuracy and truth and a textured and complete distribution of all the relevant facts? We can best judge this by taking a closer look at those who provide us our news. Part 1 of this series will address ‘talk radio’ only. Broadcast television, including cable will be covered in a future segment. Of the approximately 2,000 stations across the nation, the combined news/talk format is estimated to reach between 50 and 75 million listeners each week.



Probably the best study conducted about ‘talk radio’ was provided in a joint report completed by ‘The Center for American Progress’, and ‘Free Press’ called “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio”. There have been other studies done, but few as comprehensive and compelling as that. Their data was compiled and analyzed with the following results.



1) Analysis of the approximately 300 current news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners reveals that 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming is conservative, and 9 percent is progressive. A breakdown of the top five follows:

a. Clear Channel broad¬casts the largest number of hours of pro¬gressive talk each weekday—229 hours, about 14 percent of its total program¬ming. In relative terms, 86 percent is conservative.

b. CBS has the greatest percentage of progressive talk among the top five station owners—26 percent of talk radio programming on CBS stations is progressive and 74 per¬cent is conservative.

c. Ninety-nine percent or more of the talk radio programming on Citadel, Cumulus, and Salem stations is conservative.

2) Each weekday, 2,570 hours and 15 minutes of conservative talk are broadcast on these stations compared to 254 hours of progressive talk—10 times as much con¬servative talk as progressive talk.

3) 92 percent of these stations (236 stations out of 257) do not broadcast a single minute of progressive talk radio programming.

4) A separate analysis of all of the news/talk stations in the top 10 radio markets reveals that 76 percent of the programming in these markets is conservative and 24 percent is progressive, although programming is more balanced in markets such as New York and Chicago.



One of the most cited reasons for the disparity in conservative versus progressive talk radio is the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, which had’ required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the FCC Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced. The main agenda for this doctrine was to ensure that the viewers were exposed to a diversity of viewpoints.

TO BE CONTINUED