Now We Know Why FOX News Exists

I've been following the JournoList controversy over the last few weeks, and now that it is starting to really burst into flames, I thought I would throw in my two cents.

If you are unfamiliar with the controversy, the JournoList was created by Washington Post blogger and opinionator Ezra Klein a couple years ago. Klein is a regular political writer for WP and makes it known that his views are liberal. The JournoList includes liberal/progressives throughout academia and the media. These folks would often trade emails and discuss their views on politics, and they were very active during the 2008 presidential campaign.

As it turns out, these people were doing a bit more than just exchanging ideas. They were coordinating attacks on the McCain campaign, and trying to figure out ways to blunt the attacks on Obama, particularly involving the Jeremiah Wright scandal. The people on the JournoList (oh, I just read that the O stands for Obama) write for major publications such as the Washington Post, Newsweek, Time and The Economist.

Is it any wonder then why FOX News exists? Journalists clearly do not report without a bias any more. They inject their opinions into their columns. Considering that 80% of journalists consider themselves liberal, it was necessary to counteract that bias with the opposite bias.

The bottom line is you can't trust your favorite newspaper columnist or network news anchor anymore. If you want the truth, you need to read both sides of the story. You can't just read the Huffington Post, you need to read the National Review as well.

So, while you might complain that FOX News is biased to the right, the rest of the networks are clearly biased to the left, and so are most newspaper publications. Yet, because this country is still more conservative, FOX remains the most popular. It's a good thing, because the other major networks outnumber them 4 to 1 (CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN). And, the conservative publications are far outnumbered by the liberal ones. Keep an open mind folks, don't believe everything you read.