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Home » News » Professor demonstrates that mainstream media has a liberal bias
News

Professor demonstrates that mainstream media has a liberal bias

Steve RobinsonBy Steve RobinsonJune 26, 2012No Comments6 Mins Read
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Everyone believes that mainstream media outlets have a liberal bias, right? Well, a UCLA professor says he has actually proven it.

Furthermore, while some conservative outlets may lean to the right, their bias is less than the liberal bias of most mainstream outlets.

These are the results determined by Dr. Tim Groseclose, a professor of political science and economics at UCLA who has spent years constructing precise, quantitative measures of the slants of media outlets. His methods and conclusions are detailed in his book, “Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind.”

He will be speaking as the guest of The Maine Heritage Policy Center on Thursday in Portland. To register, go to http://www.mainepolicy.org.

Groseclose measures the political content of news and converts that content into an SQ, or “slant quotient,” of the outlet. To determine bias, he then compares SQs of news outlets to the PQs, or “political quotients,” of voters and politicians.

He concludes that all mainstream media outlets have a liberal bias, and that while some supposedly conservative outlets—such as the Washington Times or Fox News Special Report—do lean right, their conservative bias is still less than the liberal bias of most mainstream outlets.

Groseclose contends that the general leftward bias of the media has shifted the “political quotient” (PQ) of the average American by about 20 points on a scale of 100.

With “Left Turn,” readers can easily calculate their own PQ to decide for themselves if the bias exists. This timely, much‑needed study brings fact to this often over‑heated debate. Sound interesting? Take the quiz to determine your own PQ.

To find out what PQs are and how they reveal bias, consider this excerpt from Tim Groseclose in “Left Turn”:

“Come on. Political science isn’t really a science,” said my friend Dawson Engler one day, trying to goad me.

Engler, one of the country’s premier computer scientists, is currently a professor at Stanford, where his specialty is operating systems. He has constructed his own operating system—twice.

He is the type of person who succeeds at nearly anything he tries. Born in Yuma, Arizona, during high school he placed second in the “Teenage Mr. Arizona” bodybuilding contest. After graduating from Arizona State University, he enrolled in the highly prestigious computer‑science PhD program at MIT.

It is unusual for a PhD student to publish a paper in a peer‑reviewed scientific journal. Yet Engler published eight while a doctoral student. Shortly after Stanford hired him, for a brief period he dated one of the actresses from “Baywatch.”

When Engler goaded me, both of us held positions at MIT, and he knew that my position was in the political‑science department. At MIT, which is filled with “real” scientists and engineers, you often hear quips like Engler’s. So when he made it, I was prepared.

“Look,” I said. “We can both agree that if you can graph something, then you can describe it mathematically.”

“Yeah,” said Engler.

“And people, all the time, talk about politicians being left wing or right wing.”

“Okay,” said Engler.

“And so if a position is left wing or right wing, then you can graph it. Which means you can describe it mathematically, which means it’s science.”

Engler smiled. I don’t think I really convinced him, but he didn’t goad me any further. At least in my mind, I’d won the day’s debate.

Within political science a small industry exists to do the “science” that I described to Engler: to calculate precise, numerical measurements that describe the liberalness or conservativeness of politicians. In fact, at the time Engler made his quip, I was working on such a project. Indeed, the political quotients that I describe in this book are based on that research.

A person’s PQ is a number, generally between 0 and 100, that describes how liberal he or she is. The higher the number, the more liberal a person is. I have computed PQs for members of Congress by observing their record on roll call votes. (To compute your own PQ, go to http://www.timgroseclose.com/calculate-your-pq/)

The PQ for politicians is constructed from roll call votes in Congress. This means that simply by noting how members of Congress voted on those roll calls, I can calculate their PQs, and you can compare your PQ to theirs.

The following are the PQs of some well‑known politicians:

Michele Bachmann   -4.1

Newt Gingrich            11.4

Ron Paul                     31.8

Susan Collins             44.2

Olympia Snowe         47.9

Joe Lieberman           74

Hillary Clinton           87.6

Nancy Pelosi              100.7

Barney Frank             103.8

Perhaps the main contribution of the book is that it uses PQs to judge media bias. To do this, I conduct the following thought experiment. Suppose you were given a set of stories that a media outlet reported. But suppose, instead of knowing that they were news stories, you were told that they were speeches by a politician.

After reading the would‑be speeches, what would you guess to be the PQ of the would‑be politician?

I define the slant quotient, or SQ, of an outlet as the solution to that thought experiment. In the article that my colleague and I wrote for the “Quarterly Journal of Economics,” we developed a statistical technique that calculates a precise, numerical SQ for the 20 news outlets that we examined. We found, for instance, that The New York Times has an SQ of 74, which is approximately the PQ of Sen. Joseph Lieberman. 

The primary data that we used were citations to think tanks. This means that The New York Times’s citation patterns to left‑wing, centrist and right‑wing think tanks were very similar to the patterns that Joe Lieberman adopted when he made speeches on the Senate floor.

What is important is that we can describe numerically the political views of politicians and the slants of various media outlets. Further, we can map these two sets of numbers to the same scale.

Despite what my hard‑science friends might say, it is possible to analyze politics, including media bias, objectively, numerically and, yes, scientifically.

For more information about the book, see www.timgroseclose.com.

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Steve Robinson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Maine Wire. ‪He can be reached by email at Robinson@TheMaineWire.com.

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No Comments

  1. John Frary on June 26, 2012 7:53 AM

    The evidence of this bias has been growing for years.  Defenders of this illusory objectivity never contend with the actual evidence (e.g. what’s presented in this articles) but simply resort to flat denial.  The defendants typically absolve themselves  and damn the plaintiffs as a bunch of right-wing extremists.

  2. John Frary on June 26, 2012 7:53 AM

    The evidence of this bias has been growing for years.  Defenders of this illusory objectivity never contend with the actual evidence (e.g. what’s presented in this articles) but simply resort to flat denial.  The defendants typically absolve themselves  and damn the plaintiffs as a bunch of right-wing extremists.

  3. Gerald Weinand on June 26, 2012 8:22 AM

    Those wishing to read critiques of Groseclose’s work can start here:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/terry-krepel/tim-groseclose-bias_b_1015889.html

    There are others.

  4. Gerald Weinand on June 26, 2012 9:00 AM

    Groseclose also rated organizations in his study, A Measure of Media Bias, using the same 0-100 scale. Check some of them out:

    NRA: 45.9
    ACLU: 49.8
    RAND: 60.4
    PETA: 73.4
    NIFB: 73
    Family Research Council: 20.3
    AEI: 36.6
    Brookings: 53.3
    Cato: 36.3
    World Wildlife Fund: 50.3
    Council on Foreign Relations: 60.2

  5. Allan Amoling on June 26, 2012 1:25 PM

     The huffpost is NOT a credible news source for anyone except you and Cynthia Dill

  6. Simon Sherr on March 8, 2013 8:32 PM

    This neglects the fact that liberal literally means.
    1. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
    2. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.

    and conservative literally means.
    1. favoring the preservation of established customs, values, etc., and opposing innovation.
    2. a person who is reluctant to change or consider new ideas; conformist.

    So of course the reporting of scientific FACT would have a liberal slant, because by definition liberals are willing to accept the idea of scientific method.

  7. Brad Collins on March 9, 2013 12:32 PM

    “Free from bigotry,” should not be a part of the definition of liberal. Also, conservatives don’t oppose innovation. They may be reluctant to innovate, but not oppose.

  8. Jerry Lewis on March 9, 2013 12:32 PM

    I agree Brad. Part of the definition of bigotry describes one who is intolerant of those who disagree with their own political beliefs. Based on the Facebook postings of my friends who are self-labeled as liberals AND conservatives, I would say that bigotry is not specific to either side of the equation. In fact, one source went so far to describe a bigot as one who readily calls others bigots. Very illogical, but humorous. 🙂

  9. Simon Sherr on March 9, 2013 12:47 PM

    I am speaking dictionary definition. I didn’t say people were one or the other. You can argue that it’s black and white all you want, obviously we know it isn’t… The term LIBERAL means free from bias and open to new ideas.

  10. Jerry Lewis on March 9, 2013 3:47 PM

    Yes, but you also stated the term liberal meant free from bigotry. That is the part I was addressing. I am just trying to make the point that most people I know, even those who consider themselves liberal, are bigots. By definition, anyone who is intolerant of a political viewpoint, such as conservatism, or liberalism, is a bigot.

  11. Jerry Lewis on March 9, 2013 3:47 PM

    I am going to go on to say that there is no need for such heated and polarized debate on politics. Despite distanced perspectives, liberalism and conservatism have more in common than not. The commonalities of liberalism and conservatism seem to lie against the violent removal of established institutions and practices, an acceptance of the need for graduated checks on governmental powers, a balance between individual rights and the needs of society, and of course concern for individual dignity. The disagreements occur when we begin clarifying the specifics of each of these and attempt to determine the location of the fulcrum for the balance of each value. Subsequently, we end up placing labels on those who disagree with us in order to create disparity and support for individual and larger group positions of belief. However, almost ironically, it is the support of these basic values that allow all of us to exist and work together in harmony.

    Whether we choose to do that, or not, is an individual decision. The disharmony is running rampant. We are not on two separate “teams,” despite what the politicians would like us to believe.

  12. Simon Sherr on March 9, 2013 3:47 PM

    Being intolerant of bigotry does not make you a bigot. Lol. Good try Jerry.

  13. Simon Sherr on March 9, 2013 3:47 PM

    Also by definition “liberal” and “conservative” are antonyms so you can’t say they have a lot in common as concepts. One is being open to new ideas the other is exactly not that.

  14. Jerry Lewis on March 11, 2013 9:47 PM

    I’m trying to figure out where you came up with that. My primary statement regarding the definition, as it applies to the subject at hand, was “anyone who is intolerant of a political viewpoint, such as conservatism, or liberalism, is a bigot.” Where did I lose you?

  15. Simon Sherr on March 11, 2013 9:47 PM

    because the term “conservative” does actually mean bigoted (feel free to look it up, it’s in the definition)

  16. Jerry Lewis on March 11, 2013 10:17 PM

    Simon, you love other people’s labels and definitions. You have chosen to join in and judge harshly those who have different ideas than what is espoused by the group you see yourself a part of.

    All of us have different opinions and perspectives, and all must be respected to the same degree in order to remain harmonious. I would enjoy seeing more respect and tolerance to other’s political views practiced. We can’t be right all the time. It takes a hugely arrogant person to believe that their views are more important, or more correct, than everyone else’s.

  17. Simon Sherr on March 12, 2013 8:02 AM

    the DICTIONARY is not a LABEL – I am talking about the WORD conservative and liberal, have not labeled nor attacked ANYONE. If the definition of words confuses you @[1078039114:2048:Jerry Lewis], I really don’t know what else to say.

    Conservative:
    adj.
    favouring the preservation of established customs, values, etc., and opposing innovation
    n.
    a person who is reluctant to change or consider new ideas; conformist

    If you label YOURSELF conservative and don’t like the definition, consider a different label, don’t go off on a rant attacking the dictionary as “my views”

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