Left Turn...

This is a new book that makes a lot sense to me. The left media makes Americans dumb. They consistently lie and misrepresent political news resulting in many Americans believing BS. I of course, have known this for decades.

And, the point about Fox News not being nearly as right wing as the MSM is left wing, is apparent to me.

Are there still people who do NOT believe the MSM has a left wing bias? Hell...I think NBC is an arm of the Socialist Party (aka Dems).

The study by Groseclose/Milyo have a lot of critics with high credentials.
This is a critical review of the problems with the Groseclose/Milyo study of media bias:
http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2005/12/the_problems_wi.html
The author has experience in the same area and sites other studies. My conclusion is not to get too excited about any study of this type (even my cited reference) if the author is either right or left leaning.

This book is based upon an old study, done 10 years ago. The study itself was shown to be designed in a way to give the desired results, not the actual results.

However, beyond that, the definition of the middle is a place half way between the ends. Saying the middle is way over next to Fox News and everything to the left of Fox News is liberal is just an attempt to paint the fringe right as being in some way mainstream.

Yes, there are liberal media, just as there are moderate media and conservative media. Planning and carrying out a study that makes it appear that the middle is somewhere to the right of the Wall Street Journal is just plain bad scholarship.

On top of that, writing a book 10 years later for a customer base who are trying desperately to justify their own fringe beliefs is opportunistic pandering.

Where would you rate the various news networks as in conservative liberal and moderate or center

FOX
CNN
ABC
NBC
CBS
MSNBC

Well I think you know my opinion, but I will still give it.

FOX - moderate - with several conservative opinion news shows
CNN - liberal
ABC - ditto
NBC - ditto
CBS - ditto
MSNBC - ditto

You are so funny! On what planet do you live?

On a 1 to 10 continuum, with 1 being extreme Right and 10 being extreme left, here is my opinion (from planet earth!)

1: DANGEROUS extremist: Limbaugh
2: extreme right: FOX News
5: Balanced: CNN
8.5: Strong left: MSNBC
9.5: extreme left: Keith Olbermann

using your language

Do you consider yourself

dangerous extremist right
extreme right
balanced
strong left
extreme left
dangerous extreme left

I considered myself balanced, leaning left. I would say I am a 6 on the 1 to 10 continuum.

And where do you think others would put you?

we all seem to think we are balanced but others see something else

I think why we figure we are balanced is we are judging it with our own bias on what extreme is and what fair is

I think a better way to figure out where we are is by seeing how many things we agree with on the left or right exc.

I tend to side with the right on so many issues (except probably the death penalty) its fair to say I am extreme right but when I think about myself it doesn't seem that way probably because I don't want to think I am extreme but its good to be honest and see yourself for what you are instead of what you like to think you are

Now that proves you are delusional.

Limbaugh is a dangerous extremist...WTF is that? Next thing you will want him imprisoned...right? He is a conservative who presents conservative positions very well.

Extreme right Fox...no way. Fox does have Hannity and O'Reilly (who happen to be the most watch cable news shows) and both are conservatives. Extreme they are not, but to a hard left socialist, they are extreme.

CNN is not balanced and never has been. I will agree that they are not as bad as NBC, CBS, and ABC though.

Fox leans right in the way they report stories but they are not far right, if they were I would not get so mad so often that they sound almost liberal sometimes, proving I am more to the extreme right

I watched CNN from the first day they came on TV when I was a kid till about 2009, that is when I discovered Fox, now I watch all the news channels but like Fox best.

I agree with you. Actually I didn't think that you would take my answer as the truth, because obvioulsy you have different views than I do (which is a good thing in a forum of this type, it's nice to have diverse opinions). And I didn't think you would agree that I was mostly balanced, leaning left. But that's where I am.

I do not really see you as an "extreme right" from what I read of your posts, but certainly as a definite right (I would say I would place you. . .based on the very little I know about you at a 3).

I have not been posting lately but if you read my older posts I am sure you would figure me as extreme right. I am proud of what I believe in so its ok with me of I am considered extreme.

I have some views that do not fit with republicans and thats ok since I am not one. For instance

I am for legalized polygamy
l am for legalized prostitution
I am against the death penalty

there are more things but these are some examples where I break totally with republicans and or conservatives

I really don't think it is very hard to see and understand liberal bias in the MSM. When you consider how different most MSM journalists and reporters are from the average american, it makes sense they would be more liberal then most of us.

I think with even a small amount of common sense applied, you could easily justify saying:

1) Most journalism school graduates are more liberal than average, just like most business school graduates are more conservative.

2) Most Manhattanites are more liberal than average, just like most rural americans are more conservative.

If you graduate from a liberal arts program and live in Manhattan, the culture you live in and your daily life choices are completely different than say, a farmer or small business owner in Dubuque, Iowa.

If most of our daily news were presented to us by farmers and small business owners, I am positive we'd be debating conservative bias!

Most of our news is being presented by liberals. Even if they try their very best to be unbiased, what they consider "the middle" is well to the left of most americans.

Well, I agree with you on legalized prostitution (it's a LOT safer!) and on the death penalty. I don't have much issue with polygamy, except for two reasons: do the 3 wives of a polygamist each get a 1/3 of his Social security, or do EACH get the full amount? That would make a huge difference!

And, unfortunately, it seems that too many proponents of polygamy see no problem with selecting their wives among children. . .this I totally am against.

I should have been more clear, sorry! Polygamy between adults and I don't care if its 3 men and one woman or 5 women and 2 men.

I do not think prostitution should be legal because its safer, I think it should be legal because a person (woman) has a right to do with her own body what she likes. I only draw the line when her choices effect other lives. I am against the seat belt law for adults and the helmet law too. I am perfectly fine with laws that protect children.

I also think the government needs to get its nose out of peoples personal lives, I would like to see marriage go back to the people involved and their minister/priest/pastor exc. In the olden days you wrote in your bible what day you were married and your fathers or mothers signed the bible with the priest pastor or minister and that was it.

There should be no benefits for married people, its not fair to unmarried people. We should all have the exact skin in the game. we should all pay the same exact percent in taxes and get the exact same deductions as each other.

Actually I would like to see the IRS scrapped and just a single sales tax in effect. That would encourage the people to save and discourage them to spend and even hookers, pimps and drug dealers and illegals would be paying taxes because we all buy. And the evil rich would pay the most since they buy the most. and that would end loop holes for the rich and such.

Agreed and liberal bias news reporting is wrong. It distorts reality and that is why many liberals do not know what is really going on. Many news outlets are now divisions of the D party. The government media complex is very harmful and if it is not stopped, it will destroy America.

As the Great One said..."It is not that our liberal friends are ignorant. Its just that so much of what they know isn't so."

As the "Great One" also said..."If we classify Ketchup as a vegetable instead of a condiment, we can cut millions from the school lunch program."

THere is a law that requires children's pajamas to be fire retardant. There are reasons that law was passed. Are you against it? If so, why?