Why do some people think the MSM is liberal? Have you ever asked anyone that

[raccoon]

and if so what did they say?

I have one theory but I want to hear some other people's thoughts.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Because conservatives think the press was mean to Nixon. nt

[Mari333]

2. I honestly do not know. They are the same people that think Obama is too far left

It boggles the mind. when I tell them he is too far right, they look at me with their mouths hanging open.

[Echo In Light]

4. And that's precisely their strategy; create the impression of a corporatist as "far left."

[Mari333]

10. yeah, it moves the concept of 'right' into neocon nazi territory

[Echo In Light]

12. _

“The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments of the dominant political mythology.” ~ Michael Parenti

[FSogol]

3. Because Reagan and Newt repeated that myth 24/7

So did the old Washington Star as a business ploy against the Washington Post. The Washington Times picked up the meme.

[Overseas]

5. It is a right wing technique called "playing the ref"

There's a great book called "What Liberal Media?" by Eric Alterman www.whatliberalmedia.com that explains a lot of the history of the right's takeover of our news media.

You accuse the media of being liberal and they'll bend over backward to prove they are not.

Pretending the media is too liberal was also great cover for the push to the right.

[brooklynite]

6. I don't think it's liberal OR conservative...

(...with exceptions like the WSJ and Fox). Fundamentally, it's interested in attracting an audience for its advertisers, which it'll do by 1) focusing on colorful and controversial commentators, 2) concentrating on "horse race" political stories, rather than issue pieces, and 3) breaking away for car chases and lost cheerleader stories.

Consider that, for everyone here who thinks the media is "corporatist", there's a FRiends of our who thinks its "socialist".

[slackmaster]

11. I agree with brooklynite - The US media are mostly for-profit businesses

They do the same things that any other business does - Try to sell the most stuff at the highest prices the can get.

[izquierdista]

17. Who cares what they think?

Our FRiends "think" there is no global warming. They "think" that torture will get them reliable information. They "think" that less regulation will make consumer products safer. They "think" that terminating a pregnancy gone horribly wrong is a mistake. They "think" that Obama was not born in Hawaii.

All of their "thinks" are based on fact-free arguments to emotion that the powers that be can turn into an income stream.

[abluelady]

7. One Answer I Got

was the "NY Times" and other liberal papers are bigger and have more subscribers than the small papers. Made no sense to me, but what do I know!

[prairierose]

8. Calling the media "liberal" was/is a ploy of the neo-cons...

to convince people that the media is not on the side of the "people" but on the side of the "liberal elites". So they scream liberal every chance they get.

When I tell people who say anything about that there is no liberal media they look at me like I am crazy. Recently someone said something to me about the political left, "There is no political left in this country. There are reactionaries and,neo-cons, the rightwing, the corporatists and maybe a center. But there is no left." They were so shocked they were speechless. My favorite way to leave someone who has nothing useful to say.

[slackmaster]

9. MSNBC is pure liberal commentary during the hours when I and many others are most likely to watch it

Keith, Rachel, Ed, all the time.

It's easy to see how someone who works a long day then sits down with dinner in front of the TV every evening could get the impression that liberals control at least MSNBC.

[GoCubsGo]

13. They quote some stupid poll that was taken years ago..

It was a poll where a bunch of journalists were asked their political leanings, and a majority of them claimed to be liberal. Never mind that the reporting of these alleged "liberals" has been anything but that...

[OHdem10]

14. I thought everyone knows the history on this.

For about 40 years the Republican Party wandered in
the wilderness. During this time the Democrats
were in power. The Republicans developed a strategy
to make Conservatism palatable then accepted. Bill
Buckley and National Review plus his program
on PBS Stations were early movers. The GOP being
smart early on recognized the importance of Television
in getting messages to the folks. However, there
was a problem--Televsion Media was dominated by
people with a more Liberal Persuasion. The Media
at that time could be describled as not friendly to
conservatives in fact some were condescending.
The GOP developed a strategy--First smear the word
Liberal (leftist commie lovers). Once Liberal
was dirty enough then hang it around the neck of
Journalist especially Television Journalists.
(Most Americans get their news from TV) Then
and the most important step was to set themselves
up as victims of TV Media. Lay a Guilt Trip on the
Media so heavy they squirm.Guess What!!It worked.

Now years after they came into power the GOP still
plays the Guilt Card. The Media kneejerkedly
responds to GOP. Fear of being called Liberal
and being called unfair to Conservatives.

The Media now look weak because no average American
can believe the GOP is weak. No average American
sees any Liberals in Journalism (TV). They now
look like tools of GOP because of the way they
jump when GOP says boo.

It all started as a strategy to bring GOP out of
Wilderness and it worked.

[MindPilot]

15. I believe it began the day Walter Cronkite criticized the Vietnam war.

Has anyone been thrown off the air, had their shows cancelled or segments or episodes pulled for being too conservative? I can't think of one.

[Robb]

16. The same reason people think it's trustworthy at all.

Because it's convenient at the time.

We see it here at DU all the time, "the media can't be trusted" followed by "hey look at what the media says about XYZ rumor, it must be true because it confirms my own beliefs."