[lit-ideas] Re: The nature of Media Bias
- From: Judy Evans <judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 08:31:27 +0000
Sunday, December 12, 2004, 6:06:31 AM, Lawrence Helm wrote:
LH> Note: the person who wrote the article for TWS, Robert Barro, is a Prof=
essor
LH> from Harvard who doesn=92t work for TWS. Here is the same author writi=
ng a
LH> similar article for Business Week:
Here's the Barro Business Week piece. It's no basis on which to assess the=
Groseclose/Milyo paper. =20
The Liberal Media: It's No Myth =0B=0BMany people think the mainstream medi=
a have a liberal bias. Media spokesmen, however, usually deny such claims. =
So who's right? Is there a left-wing bias, or has the right wing conspired =
not only to influence the media but also to create a false image of unfairn=
ess? Some scientific evidence is available in a continuing study, A Measure=
of Media Bias, by Tim Groseclose of the University of California at Los An=
geles and Jeff Milyo of the University of Chicago, presented last March at =
Stanford University's Workshop on the Media & Economic Performance. These r=
esearchers set up an objective measure of bias in U.S. television networks,=
newspapers, and magazines. The main finding is that the liberal inclinatio=
n is pronounced. Although Fox News emerges as conservative, it is not nearl=
y as far to the right as many outlets are to the left.=20
LH> Here is the entire Gosclose-Milyo analysis s it was published in Septem=
ber
LH> 2003:
I can't see where it was published -- it's simply a .doc or .html -- I quot=
e their account of their method:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
To compute our measure, we count the times that a media outlet cites variou=
s think tanks. We compare this with the times that members of Congress cite=
the same think tanks in their speeches on the floor of the House and Senat=
e. By comparing the citation patterns we can construct an ADA score for eac=
h media outlet.=20
>>>>>>>>>>>
and their further explanation
>>>>>>>>>>>>
As a simplified example, imagine that there were only two think tanks, one =
liberal and one conservative. Suppose that the New York Times cited the lib=
eral think tank twice as often as the conservative one. Our method asks: Wh=
at is the estimated ADA score of a member of Congress who exhibits the same=
frequency (2:1) in his or her speeches? This is the score that our method =
would assign to the New York Times.=20
>>>>>>>>>
and their
>>>>>>>>>>>
A feature of our method is that it does not require us to make a subjective=
assessment of how liberal or conservative a think tank is. That is, for in=
stance, we do we need to read policy reports of the think tank or analyze i=
ts position on various issues to determine its ideology. Instead, we simply=
observe the ADA scores of the members of Congress who cite the think tank.=
This feature is important, since an active controversy exists whether, e.g=
., the Brookings Institution or the RAND Corporation is moderate, left-wing=
, or right-wing.=20
>>>>>>>>
LH>The following is Milyo responding to a criticism of the analysis:
I've read the critique -- it's at
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001169.html
=20
LH> Here is a Pew Research Center Analysis on the much the same subject:
it's about the media and partisanship, yes, but doesn't make the point/s th=
at are in Groseclose/Milyo -- it's about views of the media -- but it's wor=
th looking at it.
LH>Here is an NCPA Analysis on the same subject.
This is largely a summary of Groseclose/Milyo.
Tim Groseclose is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at Stanford's=
Business School. He does public choice stuff. Jeffrey Milyo's an Assistan=
t Professor in Public Policy Studies at Chicago, he's public policy/politic=
al economy. I think he, too, is a public choice person. IOW neither is an e=
xpert on the mass media.
--=20
Judy Evans, Cardiff, UK =20
mailto:judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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