by Lj Jaime Cordle

Created on: May 24, 2009

The Bias Of Mainstream Media

All of us are biased. No one is absolutely neutral. Why should we suspect that new reporters, commentators, T.V. presenters, etc., should be different?

What is mainstream? Increasingly, people turn to alternative sources for news.

I grew up in a very conservative atmosphere in Western Nebraska. I am 70 years old.

In those days, most news was local. We did have the Denver Post / Rocky Mountain News and the Omaha World Herald. They were very conservative, mainstream publications. The presentation of the news was very biased.

These publications despised Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. The language was truly despicable.

As in the case of many children of God Fearing recent immigrants, I was forced to read the Bible and to attend church several times a week. My people believed just about everything they read in the press.

Of course, I learned to read and reason on my own. I learned that much of what I read in the press was very misleading and often erroneous.

I went to the University. I was exposed to a much more open choice of information. Much of which I had previously been led to believe was obviously false.

My family criticized me greatly. They seemed to think that it was a mistake that I had been exposed to higher education. It was a mistake that I had learned to compare and evaluate information.

That, I believe, is the answer to the difficulty proposed by our conservative friends: Education promotes liberalism. As people learn more, they become more liberal.

Most mainstream journalists have at least a university education. They have studied and progressed intellectually.

Take a look at the conservative news people. Rush Limbaugh was a flunk out at Southeast Missouri State University. Is he qualified to be some sort of impartial and intellectual journalist?

There have been intellectually qualified conservative news people. I think especially of William Buckley. Such individuals are rare.

One of the advantages of growing up in Western Nebraska, was the great radio reception. On my multiband radio, I received stations from every part of the U.S.A. and the world. It was easy for a discerning person to identify the prejudices and opinions of the broadcasters.

Television did not arrive to my town until 1953. It was an ABC station. I believe that receiving national news was a revelation and a bit of a threat to the ultraconservatives of my region.

I formed the following opinion as a kid and I still believe it. Conservatives have closed minds. It is understandable that mainstream media news people tend to be liberal for the simple reason that they tend to be more educated than the general population. Conservatives tend to be less well educated and rooted in ignorance.

Learn more about this author, Lj Jaime Cordle.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.