Last year, Tim Groseclose of UCLA and University of Chicago's Jeff Milyo did a study to measure bias in U.S. television networks, newspapers and magazines. Groseclose and Milyo examined the voting records of U.S. senators and representatives, as rated by the well-known Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), a self-described liberal lobbying group. On a 1-100 scale -- with 100 being most liberal -- the median House member scored an ADA rating of 39. Therefore, the researchers used 39 as a reasonable measure of a centrist position. (Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has a low conservative score of 4, whereas Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., scores a high, liberal 80.)
Next, they measured the tendency of Senate and House members to favorably cite in speeches a view presented by one of 200 prominent think tanks. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, was cited by the more conservative legislators (average ADA score 6). The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank, was mentioned by the more liberal legislators (average ADA score 80). The researchers then measured the tendency of various media outlets to cite the same 200 think tanks in their 1990 to 2003 "news stories" -- not editorials or letters to the editor. If the news story frequently mentioned a liberal think tank, the researchers characterized the publication or program as liberal. If the story frequently mentioned a conservative think tank, the researchers labeled the publication or program conservative. So, in effect, the researchers assigned an "ADA rating" to the news outlets.
"Fox News Special Report" earned a rating of 27 -- 12 points more conservative than the median House member's 39 rating. Only one other major outlet scored a right-of-center rating -- the Washington Times at 34. On the other end, Newsweek scored 72 -- or 33 points more liberal than the median. Time magazine, The New York Times, "CBS Evening News," USA Today and "NBC Nightly News" ranged from 62 to 64, about 25 points above the median.
A recent Pew Research Center survey also noted the press corps' lopsided liberal ideology. Pew found that 54 percent of national journalists self-describe as "moderates," down from 64 percent in 1995. Only 7 percent of national journalists call themselves "politically conservative," well below the 33 percent of the general public who call themselves "conservative." National journalists who call themselves liberal increased to 34 percent, compared with 22 percent in 1995.
For more on media bias, read my latest book, "Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies, and the Special Interests That Divide America," and send me your examples of media bias. For some people, examples are worth a thousand studies.