Mainstream Media

For about 20 years, I have been teaching a course at Towson University called "Media Criticism," which deals largely with alleged ideological media bias. The claims of liberal bias in the mainstream media go back at least as far as Barry Goldwater's campaign for the presidential nomination in 1964. Perceiving repeated negative interpretations contained in "news reports" on his candidacy, he pleaded with major newspapers to put at least one reporter on his campaign who would just report what he said.

If abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell is found guilty of homicide, he will be unique among murderers-for-hire: He set his fees based on weight. "The bigger the baby, the more he charged," a grand jury explained. It recommended he be charged with eight counts of murder -- one patient, seven babies. Despite what amounted to a blackout at many media outlets until last week, you've probably now heard at least some of the details. According to the grand jury report, Dr. Gosnell's Philadelphia "clinic" was a filthy abattoir.

Your August 22nd editorial lamenting the significant percentage numbers of Americans who believe Barak Obama is Muslim as nothing but conspiracy theory due to Internet-fueled rumor ("Our secret Muslim president") ignores the basis of why many may hold such beliefs. While I don't believe or disbelieve any particular religious affiliation of Barack Obama, your professed belief that he is a Christian is clearly premised upon Mr. Obama claiming to be so. Yet the only Christian church he has ever been a member of is Trinity United Church of Christ with the race baiting, American hating Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. as his beloved pastor.

For about 20 years, I have been teaching a course at Towson University called "Media Criticism," which deals largely with alleged ideological media bias. The claims of liberal bias in the mainstream media go back at least as far as Barry Goldwater's campaign for the presidential nomination in 1964. Perceiving repeated negative interpretations contained in "news reports" on his candidacy, he pleaded with major newspapers to put at least one reporter on his campaign who would just report what he said.

For many who spent yesterday at the Preakness infield, the hangover won't be the worst part of this morning. It'll be the YouTube video. For years, the Preakness infield was described as a drunken bacchanalia with a horse race encircling it. But for those who didn't attend, the best sense they could get of the rowdy spree came after the crowd had cleared out, as TV videos and newspaper photos showed tons of garbage being collected. The mainstream media - produced for a family audience - couldn't adequately describe the debauchery of the infield.

Whether or not you agree with the Occupy protesters recently rousted from Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, still camping out at Baltimore's Inner Harbor and making their presence known in other cities across America, the movement has made one thing clear: The mainstream media still matter. The demonstrators have used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to publicize their activities. Anyone interested has been able to get up-to-the-minute news on the movement and watch live streaming of protest sites.

Recently I called a local radio talk show, not to blast President Barack Obama or ridicule Mitt Romney but to chide the conservative host and his conservative guest for their tiresome narrative about liberal bias in the "mainstream media.'" They directed me to unspecified recent studies by the Pew Research Center, a widely respected non-partisan social science and polling group that they said supported their perception of liberal media bias. The most recent Pew study does suggest that, by a large margin, the public perceives that there is bias in the media.

Your list of the names of U.S. soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since last Memorial Day on Monday's editorial page was nice, but it conveniently left out the body count ("U.S. fallen in Afghanistan," May 28). Since 2009, when Barack Obama became president, 1,355 U.S. soldiers have died in the Afghan war. Yet the mainstream media, including The Sun, is not counting. Of course, whenGeorge W. Bushwas president, we got the body count every day. Where is the fairness in The Sun's approach?

Here in media world, we're all quite cross at The New York Times and its former star reporter, Judith Miller. She is widely believed to have sought her martyrdom as a career move. And then she gave up after a mere couple of months in jail. What a wuss! And the Times: this great institution let a mere reporter lead it around by its nose, with predictable results. What a superwuss! But this latest blow to the reputation of the mainstream media cannot be pinned on Ms. Miller or the Times.

NEW YORK - Whatever their other contributions to politics and the nation, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Barack Obama have been crack for the news business. Across the spectrum, viewership, Internet traffic and readership are way up during this interminable election season. But what happens when it's over? Will there be enough news to sustain the bounce? And that persistent obstacle: How can the mainstream media improve their image? These were some of the questions addressed by panelists at a Time Warner media summit here this week.

After spending Saturday night listening to and writing about a Baltimore blogger who webcast and tweeted throughout a five-hour standoff with a police S.W.A.T. unit, I promised myself at least 24 hours to try and coherently think through the meaning of the event. Beyond the things I said Saturday night about the webcast and Twitter conversation being two more great examples of the way the Internet and social media continue to change so many aspects of American life, there are a couple of other media takeaways that stay with me and are worth thinking about.

Recently I called a local radio talk show, not to blast President Barack Obama or ridicule Mitt Romney but to chide the conservative host and his conservative guest for their tiresome narrative about liberal bias in the "mainstream media.'" They directed me to unspecified recent studies by the Pew Research Center, a widely respected non-partisan social science and polling group that they said supported their perception of liberal media bias. The most recent Pew study does suggest that, by a large margin, the public perceives that there is bias in the media.

"We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers," says Neil Newhouse, a Romney pollster. A half-dozen fact-checking organizations and websites have refuted Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's claims that President Obama removed the work requirement from the welfare law and will cut Medicare benefits by $716 billion. The New York Times even reported that Mr. Romney has been "falsely charging" President Obama with removing the work requirement. USA Today calls the Romney campaign's claim that Mr. Obama has "funneled" money out of Medicare to pay for the federal health care law a "false line of attack" that's directly contradicted by Medicare's chief actuary.

Your list of the names of U.S. soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since last Memorial Day on Monday's editorial page was nice, but it conveniently left out the body count ("U.S. fallen in Afghanistan," May 28). Since 2009, when Barack Obama became president, 1,355 U.S. soldiers have died in the Afghan war. Yet the mainstream media, including The Sun, is not counting. Of course, whenGeorge W. Bushwas president, we got the body count every day. Where is the fairness in The Sun's approach?

Everyone who has ever tuned into a cable channel has heard the names Natalee Holloway and Laci Peterson. Show hosts like Nancy Grace have used their TV pulpits to chronicle the disappearance of such white, female victims night after night. But what about black victims like Yasmin Acree or missing sisters Diamond and Tiondra Bradley? That's one of the questions raised by a new docu-series, "Find Our Missing," hosted by S. Epatha Merkerson and produced by TV One, the African-American-themed cable channel based in Silver Spring.

Whether or not you agree with the Occupy protesters recently rousted from Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, still camping out at Baltimore's Inner Harbor and making their presence known in other cities across America, the movement has made one thing clear: The mainstream media still matter. The demonstrators have used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to publicize their activities. Anyone interested has been able to get up-to-the-minute news on the movement and watch live streaming of protest sites.

After spending Saturday night listening to and writing about a Baltimore blogger who webcast and tweeted throughout a five-hour standoff with a police S.W.A.T. unit, I promised myself at least 24 hours to try and coherently think through the meaning of the event. Beyond the things I said Saturday night about the webcast and Twitter conversation being two more great examples of the way the Internet and social media continue to change so many aspects of American life, there are a couple of other media takeaways that stay with me and are worth thinking about.

If abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell is found guilty of homicide, he will be unique among murderers-for-hire: He set his fees based on weight. "The bigger the baby, the more he charged," a grand jury explained. It recommended he be charged with eight counts of murder -- one patient, seven babies. Despite what amounted to a blackout at many media outlets until last week, you've probably now heard at least some of the details. According to the grand jury report, Dr. Gosnell's Philadelphia "clinic" was a filthy abattoir.

"Occupy Baltimore - for what?" asks your editorial (Oct. 5) about the latest movement of radical young people in Baltimore, perhaps the largest the city has seen in decades. The Occupy Everything fight is one of optimism against pessimism, and of youth and hope against apathy and cynicism. It is something the established media probably will not grasp. The movement will not be understood by editors who fill their front page with the latest failure of the local baseball team while virtually ignoring the struggle for a decent wage by the janitors who clean the stadium after the game.

If 2010 was the year of anything, it was "The Year of the Leak. " Or "leak year," if you prefer. From the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the WikiLeaks dump of government secrets on the Internet, this was the year we learned that nothing is secure — and once it is out, there is no containing it. From the feet of (maybe) New York Jets coach Rex Ryan's wife to the private parts of (maybe) Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre, new meaning was given this year to the phrase "naked truth.