Over the past week, events in Guelph involving our EDA have demonstrated, once again, that this city has left-leaning media. This is unfortunate. Objective media and reporters that accurately and fairly disseminate information from both the left side and the right side of issues are critical to democracy.
Freedom of the press was enshrined in Canada when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was adopted in 1982. Multi-member media associations honour and respect this freedom. For example, here’s a key Statement of Principle from the website for Newspapers Canada:
“The newspaper keeps faith with readers by presenting information that is accurate, fair, comprehensive, interesting and timely.”
If multi-member media associations recognize the importance of presenting accurate and fair information, why do individual media outlets and their reporters skew their presentation of information to the left?
This has been a topic of discussion in both Canada and the U.S. for well over a decade. An extensive UCLA study that was conducted in 2005 confirmed political bias across a range of media outlets. It is important to point out that editorials, commentaries, and opinion pages were not included in this study.
“I suspected that many media outlets would tilt to the left because surveys have shown that reporters tend to vote more Democrat than Republican,” said Tim Groseclose, a UCLA political scientist and the study’s lead author. “But I was surprised at just how pronounced the distinctions are.”
In addition to the several academic studies that have been conducted on the subject, panels of journalists have been convened in both Canada and the U.S. to discuss the reasons behind media bias. Individual reporters have also speculated why based on personal experience. There appears to be no consensus, but journalists provide reasons such as the following for the left-wing orientation of media:
“They see ordinary people as less than them. Usually some combination of Helpless, Hapless, and Hopeless. As the designated Smart people, it’s their job to look out for us, and do what’s best, even if we don’t like it.”
“Each of my journalism and political science instructors even at a (conservative) public university were hard core liberals. Many of my classmates, and best friends in college were liberal. I came to adopt the assumptions and worldviews of those around me.”
“In journalism school, (conservatives) are viewed largely as caricatures: heartless and greedy, and as always attempting to shove religion down people’s throats by opposing legalized abortion.”
“Conservatives have tended to pursue more traditional careers, jobs that pay better or that would lend themselves to family life in suburban or rural settings — closer to home.”
“For whatever reason, journalism is still not the cultural equivalent of a career in accounting. Journalism is predominantly of, for, and by liberals – a career for those who either eschew normalcy, lean urban, or prefer the counter culture, kinda like a career in graphic arts or jazz.”
Journalists are definitely entitled to have political views. After all, they are citizens who have the right and the responsibility to vote in elections. But they should NOT allow their personal political views to influence how they convey hard news.
Here’s another Statement of Principle from the website for Newspapers Canada. All professional journalists, no matter what media outlet they work for or the size of the market they cover, should put this up on the wall beside their desk at work and look at it daily:
“The newspaper should strive to paint a representative picture of its diverse communities, to encourage the expression of disparate views and to be accessible and accountable to the readers it serves, whether rich or poor, weak or powerful, minority or majority.”
In other words, be objective!
