I noticed that Huffinton Post has run a series of articles that are very critical of President Obama's criticism of Fox News. President Obama has mildly suggested that Fox is more akin to talk radio, rather than an impartial news outlet. Yet, rather than examine the varacity of the charge, as Media Matters has done, Huffington Post has linked a series of articles that are quite critical of these comments.
This, of course, struck me as odd, since Huffinton Post is, well, supposed to be liberal. Then, I was reminded by something written ...
on Huffinton Post! (see below) The gist is that liberal media, Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, and Huffinton Post, etc., are so afraid of being seen a liberal equivalent of Fox News that they over compensate, and in the case Huffington Post, occasionally side with Fox News against President Obama to avoid being seen as bias. Then, they proudly announce that they are not biased, because they can also attack President Obama!
Of course, Fox News has no such fear of being perceived as biased, so they just accuse folks attacking them of being liars, then continue with their propaganda. In other words, liberal media is actign just like President Obama in trying to be bi-partisan. Why try to earn brownie points from conservatives by showing how they can sometimes side with Fox News against Democrats? Its not as if Republicans are going to say, "Hey! You know what? Huffington Post is not a shill for liberals after all!"
Anyways, here's the article on Huffington Post that describes why Huffington Post has not seriously reviewed President Obama's charge that Fox News is biased, but has instead linked articles repeating Fox's baseless charge that it was being excluded from interviews by the Obama administration, which was subsequently debunked by Rachel Maddow:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/j-l-ballinger/the-medias-liberal-revers_b_148427.html
The Media's Liberal Reverse Bias
When it was apparent that Senator Barack Obama was going to win the race for the presidency, I figured the dubious claims of media's liberal bias would simmer down once he took office and an activist White House press corps started dogging him. With an apparent lull in news to write about now that the election is over, though, the corps has already begun it's critical coverage as it focuses on the president-elect's announcements of his cabinet posts. It is a historic situation and such a focus is to be expected.
This is where the liberal reverse bias comes in, however. That's what I call it when reporters and editors -- fearful of being called liberal -- try to appear to be balanced by writing stories that push the conservative line. On these occasions, they swing too far the other way to appease their critics. I understand that. A reporter's credibility is about all he or she has. It was that way when I started in this business nearly 30 years ago and that's just the way it is.
As understandable as this swing may be, however, there's no excuse for it. Witness the preposterous stories coming out of way too many news organizations that claim Obama is reneging on his promise of change by picking the people he has for his cabinet
So, perhaps one unintended consequense of calling out Fox is that "liberal" media is now going to over compensate, and show just how "objective" they are by repeating right wing talking points.