Some may say there is no media bias, and at times, I am one of them. When people on the right (I call them "idiots") scream and shout that the New York Times, the Washington Post, or worse, I guess, CBS News, portrays a Republican or a conservative idea in bad light, and that that is the latest evidence of a liberal media bias, I reply that this "bad light" is only news to you since you've been watching Fox News, you know, the unfiltered-news kind, for too long. Or reading the Washington Times or New York Post.

But in light of Bush's nomination of John Bolton to Ambassador to the United Nations, a series of editorials from a variety of news organizations rightfully draws the lines of media bias. The hypothesis that the United States news media will soon mirror the media in Europe, being that there will be "right-leaning" and "left-leaning" news organizations, is a valid one, and I agree that will happen over time. (It is always good to remember that Europe is much older than the United States, and the Europeans have had much more time to experiment with the way the news is presented; and they may have found the perfect medium.) Take a look at the following examples:

Susan E. Rice (op-ed column in The Washington Post): "President Bush has shocked even his most cynical critics by nominating the combative neoconservative John Bolton to one of our most complex and sensitive diplomatic posts: U.S. ambassador to the United Nations."

Fred Kaplan (Slate): "Just as it looked like George W. Bush might be nudging toward multilateralism, he goes and appoints John Bolton as his ambassador to the United Nations. There could be no clearer sign that the contempt for the international organization, which was such a prominent feature of Bush's first term, will extend into his second term with still greater force and eloquence."

The Wall Street Journal editorial board: "It is now 60 years since the San Francisco Conference inaugurated the U.N. In that time, U.S. interests have more often been stymied than advanced by our participation. But the U.N. has also been the place where past ambassadors such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeane Kirkpatrick made America's case. We expect Mr. Bolton will carry on in that tradition, and perhaps even rescue the U.N. from itself."

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (National Review): "Bolton has been one of this country's most thoughtful critics of past U.N. misconduct."

Source: Washington Post

Now, who do you believe, or which opinion do you most agree with? It is all relative, and that is why, if there were a media bias, or if there will be media biases, we will do just fine. As long as we aren't in-bred conservatives, that is.

Labels: bush