Oh the Outrage
“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” — Howard Beale
Beale is a fictional character. He was an anchorman in the movie “Network”. In the movie. Beale asks all of the viewers to open their windows and shout out the above refrain at the same time. Referencing a fictional character and a fruitless gesture seems oddly apropos in the moment. Naturally, you are just going to have to take my word for it.
What you are looking at above is the media bias chart we teach our students. See, most people naturally just assume that media sources should only be measured by where they are on a left-right scale. The more important axis is percentage of factual content provided on these programs. The lower you are on the chart, the fewer facts that get dispensed on your network.
I’m sure you noticed that the left and right axis is pretty balanced on both sides. There are more right wing sources than left wing sources when you absolutely count them out, but it’s close enough not to make a difference. It is the factual axis that is most revealing. You’ll notice all but two left to center stay above the line that denotes selective or incomplete story information. Quite a few right leaning sources fall below that. In other words, it’s not symmetrical. Both sides do not do the same thing.
We set this in the backdrop of the latest right wing hysteria piece about DirecTV dropping Newsmax from it’s channel list. The right wing noise machine has called this censorship. Sure. If anyone leaning right accidentally stumbles onto this space I want you to listen very carefully. Censorship happens when the government stifles your ability to speak. It is not happening if your boss fires you for saying something offensive. It is not happening if a social media site blocks your commentary or decides to ban you from their site. For the love of God, it is not happening when a cable company decides not to carry your channel.
If you look carefully you can find Newsmax on the site above. It exists on the far right hand wing on the chart and is one of the least accurate. It comes somewhere between OANN and Fox News. That is terrific company. Since most commentators can’t be bothered to explain this nuanced point, I will make an attempt in case you are conservative and stumbled into this space.
All media outlets are biased in some sense. There are two kinds of bias. The first kind of bias reflects the editorial judgment of the outlet. What stories do they pump up? What stories do they bury? On this level, everyone in the mainstream media deserves all of the criticism that gets hurled their way. We amp up conflict. We amp up controversy. We amp up whatever sensationalism we can for eyeballs, clicks, and advertising dollars.
The second level of bias is the kind of bias most people think of. Are you actually telling the truth? You can see the chart above as easily as I can. There simply is no equivalency here. The notion that both sides do it is not only wrong, but it is inherently dangerous. I suppose that when someone exaggerates the importance of an issue then we can consider it a form of lying. That of course depends on how cynical you want to be.
However, take a look at your chart. MSNBC and CNN are reliable sources. They exercise a ton editorial discretion in what they choose to focus on, but they generally report facts. OANN, Newsmax, and Fox News do not. I don’t subscribe to DirecTV. They can allow any channel they want and they can cut any channel they want. It’s called capitalism. Maybe conservatives can give it a try.
Nick, I’m surprised you’re allowed to teach this in Texas! I’m glad you are. Thank you!
1I have showed that chart to many conservatives over the years when they claimed all news outlets are biased. Yes, I say, but some more than others.
Their usual response is that the chart is biased.
2I’m struck by the separation between FoxNews (web) and FoxNews (TV). The same holds for OAN (web) vs. OAN (TV). That tells me just how much both outlets are relying heavily on outrage to keep the audience watching.
For comparison, the separation between CNN (web) and CNN (TV) is about half as large. There is almost no difference between MSNBC (web) and MSNBC (TV).
3Wonkette has a bias. Who knew.
What I can’t understand is people who think papers or tv should not have a POV. I think they believe that tag line fair and balanced is real. IIRC, it was Reagan who got shed of those rules for broadcasters who leased airspace from the people of the USA. Reagan and Roger .
4You nailed this one Nick. Your best, and one of the best opinion articles that I’ve read yet. Congrats. And semi-sentient critters don’t come much more cynical than me.
I’d restack that chart somewhat; because hell, I get pissed at what I see as a RW slant on PBS and NPR [even the BBC went down the rabbithole imo], among others [and I never/have/will never even see most of the media on that chart, haven’t ever bought cable-sat].
Though I wish some rich Democrats would revive Air America, effing ASAP before 2024 hits the fan [obviously this would require a big nationwide subsidy]. When that AA channel hit Texass, it appeared on some formerly top country music stations. Around here a powerful FM country station switched format to Air America [it was p/o a Dallas media chain] and the massive number of local RWNJs lost their ‘minds’; AA didn’t last very long here.
5Wouldn’t it be fun if Jack Anderson was still alive and publishing!
6Grandma Ada @ 5,
I wish Molly Ivins was still alive.
7I recently had the displeasure of my first exposure to Newsmax while visiting someone very dear to me who knows how I feel about right wing disinformation. A TX border sheriff was ranting on about immigration and The Administration and Joe Biden, with no factual information. A request by me to please change the channel as the man was clearly spreading misinformation triggered an unfortunate exchange. In the past, I have worked hard to ignore Fox when it’s on in my presence, and we have made it clear several times that blasting Fox all day does not make for quality visits. I guess this is their antidote. Newsmax takes inflammatory rhetoric to a whole new level that I cannot abide. Thanks very much for this post. It will be shared.
8Thank you Sandridge. This one has always stuck in my craw. The right has managed the great con over the past 40+ years. They have managed to convince people that the media is liberal and yet there are more right leaning media sources than left leaning media sources. This is particularly true on talk radio. Fox, OANN, and Newsmax are able to bill themselves as a counterbalance to the left wing media because left wing media “obviously” skews the truth. Except they don’t. They certainly have a strong editorial bias in what they choose to cover, but they generally report facts. Kelly Anne Conway was more right than she knows. If the other side is reporting facts and you have to “counterbalance” that then you have to report “alternative facts.”
9