BIAS SURPRISE: The "Columbia Journalism Review" has another article about media bias. It's based on a survey that yielded some surprising results. Apparently, media bias isn't that big a deal for a lot of Americans:

A Gallup poll in the spring of 1998 asked respondents to judge the bias of seven types of news organizations -- ranging from network news to local newspapers. On average about 27 percent saw a bias in favor of liberals and 19 percent in favor of conservatives. Thirty-six percent rated the media as fair and impartial, while 18 percent had no opinion on the subject. Two years later, Pew found only slightly more Americans saying that the media coverage of George W. Bush's election campaign was unfair (30 percent), than thought that about coverage of Al Gore's campaign (24 percent). The majority said both campaigns were treated fairly by news organizations. Gallup even found that 63 percent thought that coverage of the hyper-contentious Florida recount was unbiased.

But there is still a perception of a different kind of bias - the bias of media self-interest:

The media are seen as exploitive, as needlessly stirring political controversy and offering too much contentious punditry. Surveys taken for the ASNE Journalism Credibility Project in 1998 found that 71 percent thought that the cause of bias in television news was a desire for higher ratings, while only 10 percent thought it was due to political bias. Similar answers were given about bias in newspapers.