The Face Off

I don't know whether I'll stick with this or not, but it is a subject I'm interested in so maybe I will. As you know the media is worthy of criticism. And as you know both Conservatives and Liberals have some critiques for the media. The right has organizations like Brent Bozell's Media Research Center. The left has Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). But as we shall see over the coming days, their approaches differ a bit.

FAIR, for example, doesn't assume that the media is biased conservative and assume that any readers assume that as well. This forces them to provide a little more information. Take a recent article on how the cable networks select guests for their panels.

Though such debate segments purport to pit right against left, centrist pundits are routinely substituted for the left on panels, while progressives are often excluded altogether.

Debates matching conservatives with centrists are a cable television tic so pervasive that a small army of centrist pundits has formed whose motto might as well be, "I'm not a leftist but I play one on TV."

Take a second and consider how many strong conservative voices you can think of. Now consider how many strong liberal voices you can think of. That should tell you something.

The Cable News Networks have promoted conservatives and conservative views by letting them appear opposite centrists or (even better) reporters. Some of you might think that, since reporters are automatically liberals, this is a good match. Except that reporters have to maintain an air of being unbiased, while the conservatives are allowed to be as biased as they like. It's an unfair fight.

Which is exactly what Conservatives want, I guess.