Media Bias

My opinion on media bias is that it is best explained by trying to understand the economic incentives that the news organizations are facing.  The main consideration is the need to attract an audience. The owners of news media are likely to go after profit even at the expense of their personal political ideology.  Presenting news that the public considers biased would be considered unethical.  People support the political positions that they do for ethical reasons.  They believe that their ideas about what is good for the country are right.


In seeking an audience major newspapers are likely to benefit from a liberal bias.  Delivery of the news to an urban audience will yield the highest profit.  The urban audience will be left of center.  This is because in large urban areas there are many things to do that will compete with religious participation.  Less religious people will tend to be more liberal on social issues and may tend to express their desire for social programs more through politics than the religious.  Religious people will have another outlet for their support of social services.


AM radio can broadcast over a larger area, but is not as good for transmitting music, which requires a higher quality of sound.  Hence talk radio tends to favor a more conservative, rural audience.


Cable news will tend to go after specialized niches. Network news was seen as having a liberal bias.  This is likely to be the case.  Typically television stations go after a younger audience since they are less likely to have formed brand loyalties.  Certain cable news networks might find it profitable to go after previously neglected audiences.  If network news has a liberal bias, this would mean adopting a more conservative tone.