What Liberal Media?: The Truth About Bias and the News (Hardcover)

~ Eric Alterman (Author) "ONLY A LIBERAL would be dumb enough to title a book, What Liberal Media?..." (more)
Key Phrases: liberal bias, liberal media, journal editorial page, New York Times, Washington Post, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The incredulity begins with the title What Liberal Media?, journalist Eric Alterman's refutation of widely flung charges of left-wing bias, and never lets up. The book is unlikely to make many friends among conservative media talking heads. Alterman picks apart charges made by Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, George Will, Sean Hannity, and others (even the subtitle refers to a popular book by former CBS producer Bernard Goldberg that argues a lefty slant in news coverage). But the perspectives of less-incendiary figures, including David Broder and Howard Kurtz, are also dissected in Alterman's quest to prove that not only do the media lack a liberal slant but that quite the opposite is true. Much of Alterman's argument comes down to this: the conservatives in the newspapers, television, talk radio, and the Republican party are lying about liberal bias and repeating the same lies long enough that they've taken on a patina of truth. Further, the perception of such a bias has cowed many media outlets into presenting more conservative opinions to counterbalance a bias, which does not, in fact, exist, says Alterman. In methodically shooting down conservative charges, Alterman employs extensive endnotes, all of which are referenced with superscript numbers throughout the body of the book. Those little numbers seem to say, "Look, I've done my homework." What Liberal Media? is a book very much of 2003 and will likely lose some relevance as political powers and media arrangements evolve. But it's likely to be a tonic for anyone who has suspected that in a media environment overflowing with conservatives, the charges of bias are hard to swallow. For liberals hoping someone will take off the gloves and mix it up with the verbal brawlers of the right, Eric Alterman is a champion. --John Moe

From Publishers Weekly

While the idea that a liberal bias pervades the mainstream media has been around for years, it gained new currency with the 2001 publication of Bernard Goldberg's Bias and its 2002 successor, Ann Coulter's Slander. Alterman (Sound & Fury; Who Speaks for America?; etc.) now seeks to debunk the notion and goes so far as to argue that bastions of alleged liberalism like the Washington Post and ABC News "have grown increasingly cowed by false complaints of liberal bias and hence, progressively more sympathetic to the most outlandish conservative complaints." He largely succeeds: whatever your politics, Alterman delivers well-documented, well-argued research in compulsively readable form. His chapter on business journalism, for instance, is a thrill-ride through the excesses of late 1990s optimism and the subsequent crash in stock valuations and mood. But he also counters that while the economy was peaking, major media outlets virtually ignored traditional left-wing issues like labor rights, which had been neglected, and income inequality, which was growing. In contrast, he says, the media fawned over chief executives while almost totally failing to confront corporate fraudsters. Alterman also observes that the center of American politics has shifted to the right in the last several decades, which he attributes to efforts by conservative think tanks and their financial backers. Whether readers agree with Alterman or not, his writing on the business of opinion making is eye-opening. This book will be required reading for anyone in politics or journalism, or anyone curious about their complicated nexus.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 322 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; First edition. edition (February 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465001769
• ISBN-13: 978-0465001767
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (260 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #732,296 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It depends on what is "liberal", September 19, 2003

By	Thomas Stamper (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

Instead of taking on the conservative critics directly, Alterman's book instead asks us to reconsider who and what we consider liberal. He does a fine job making his own case, but he seems to approach the material from a different set of premises than those who decry the bias. Alterman lists the areas of the media like talk radio that are dominated by conservatives. He then names all the famous conservative pundits on political shows. He also examines the number of conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation.

He doesn't refute or even examine the conservative point that talk radio thrives simply because conservative ideas weren't getting play anywhere else. Alterman is also troubled that more TV pundits are conservative, and though I can name more conservative pundits too, Alterman goes further. He also lists Democratic pundits like Morton Kondracke and Christopher Mathews as conservatives. Cokie Roberts, the daughter of a Democratic House member, is a conservative. He even suggests that David Broder is a conservative.

He quotes Broder quite thoroughly praising Reagan's approach while criticizing Clinton's. What he doesn't address is Broder's almost religious faith in the Federal Government and politicians to solve people's problems. I remember reading Broder's criticism of term limits. Broder couldn't imagine how anything would get done in Washington without a permanent political class to run things.

But Broder criticized Clinton for his methods and that makes Broder conservative. He doesn't imagine that liberals like Broder were frustrated that an engaging President missed an opportunity to promote liberalism, because of his own character flaws. It's the same reason Broder might like Reagan's style, wishing a liberal could turn up with such good political instincts. Never once does Alterman quote Broder's praise of Reagan's tax cut or military buildup. He only shows Broder praising the politician.

When it comes to economics, Alterman uses NAFTA as an example of how big media is economically conservative, but to attack NAFTA would have put the media to the left of Bill Clinton. What Alterman doesn't mention is that the media constantly derides supply side economics. The fact that every major news anchor and player in the media speaks of tax cuts in terms of what they cost is a great example of liberal bias. Ignoring that tax cuts spur growth and create a larger amount of revenue never gets any play either among the big fish. Not once after Reagan's tax cut in the 1980s did the government take in less tax revenue than the year prior. How often is that reported? The idea that taxes are actually the citizen's money is never explored on the big three networks either.

The argument that these big corporations are controlling the mouths of the media is mentioned, but no where demonstrated in the book. Brent Bozell's Cyber Alert newsletter is packed everyday with 4-6 examples of Major Media hosts taking the liberal line and Alterman doesn't once address Jennings, Rather and Brokaw, Couric, or Gumbel. To him, the media is George Will's 15 minutes at the end of the George Stephonopolis show.

He explores the Heritage Foundation and Talk Radio, but it would seem obvious to me that these entities exist and thrive because they are a counter to the everyday media as we know it. Would there be any reason to listen to Sean Hannity if Peter Jennings were saying the same things? Would we need a Heritage Foundation if the New York Times were espousing personal liberty over equality? Would we need George Will if George Stephanopolis hadn't spent his career working for Democrats? Regardless of the number of well-known conservative pundits, it must be apparent that they are labeled conservative because their presence is to counter the opinions coming from the "mainstream" person.

Is the New York Time liberal to Alterman? No. The NATION magazine alone is liberal in America, Alterman concludes. That's like saying the John Birch magazine, THE NEW AMERICAN is the only conservative voice in America.

His justification is that the whole continent of Europe is to the left of America and plenty of liberal magazines like the NATION thrive there. I would say that neither the NATION nor most of Europe is liberal. They are socialists, just like the NEW AMERICAN people are isolationists. Both magazines are fringe elements that are ignored and not influential among policy makers. If you spent a day reading both magazines, you wouldn't be surprised at how much they are opposed diametrically, but it might surprise you to find them in total agreement on trade issues and the like. They complete the circle, if you will, by being on the fringe.

How many Democratic Party positions can you name that aren't supported by the mainstream press? I have trouble naming any. Alterman makes a good case that the media isn't totally socialist, but his refusal to engage the specific criticisms that come from conservatives must mean that he has yielded those points. If you believe the Democratic Party is conservative, then Alterman's thesis is correct.

Alterman has laid out a good foundation that the media isn't liberal enough and I never tired of his examples and excellent writing, but until he spends some time answering Brent Bozell and conservative critics directly, he hasn't made the strongest case for his side.

57 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thorough dismantling of a stubborn myth, February 7, 2003

By A Customer

This book is reasonable, well-presented and filled with detailed, footnoted facts that, together, demolish the myth of the liberal media. Alterman's takes on on the likes of Coulter, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Goldberg and the rest of the right-wing victim class are on target and devastating. Of course, since -- as laid out neatly by Alterman -- the media is deeply in the pockets of multi-national coporations to whom liberalism is anathema, expect this book to be attacked mercilessly. No matter -- the truth wins out. Required reading.

49 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars open your eyes and listen, May 27, 2003

By A Customer

One of the silliest myths endlessly promulgated by the right wing is that the "mainstream media" (nowadays that means mostly TV and radio) has a liberal bias. This book blows that myth out of the water better than any other.

The ONLY clearly liberal program I find in the mainstream media is Bill Moyer's NOW once a week on PBS. Talk radio is clearly dominated by right wing extremists. TV news seems mostly interested in maintaining ratings and so broadcasts what they think will bring in the most viewers (e.g. programs on missing children).

Mainstream media in the U.S. is now, unfortunately, dominated by a few large corporations, and the situation is getting worse by the day. The people who run these corporations are not liberals. Indeed, some of them have a clearly right-wing agenda (e.g. Rupert Murdoch). The people who write stories for these corporations are not eager to offend their bosses.

The blame lies clearly with the public, as the book points out: "Because most members of the public know and care relatively little about government, they neither seek nor understand high-quality political reporting and analysis. With limited demand for first-rate journalism, most news organizations cannot afford to supply it, and because they do not supply it, most Americans have no practical source of the information necessary to become politically sophisticated. Yet it would take an informed and interested citizenry to create enough demand to support top-flight journalism...."