Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a Monday this year, so today’s column is the last one for 2023. I was considering whether to review the year and/or make predictions until I read an article in this week’s edition of The Economist, “Bias or Reality: American journalism sounds much more Democratic than Republican”. It was part of a package based on the cover “The Media and the Message: Journalism and the 2024 Presidential Election”.
I’ve been a huge fan of The Economist for years and listen each week to what may be the world’s longest podcast. It’s an audio edition of the magazine (The Economist refers to itself as a “newspaper” and no doubt it was when it started in 1843) that reads the entire edition, typically seven or eight hours a week of content. Their journalism is top notch and even though there is often an opinion attached, their views don’t get in the way of reporting facts.
The Economist also has some very smart data people. The article covered nearly a quarter million stories concerning American politics from 2016-2022 and transcripts from nearly 400,000 TV segments going back to 2009. The data folks compiled a “partisan dictionary” of phrases used by Democrats and Republicans, for example, “undocumented migrant” versus “illegal alien”.
They found that of the 20 most used news websites with available data, 17 used Democratic terms more than Republican ones. The same went for the six most used TV networks with Fox News being the only one using more Republican phrases.
Where this gets more interesting is the change since 2017. According to The Economist’s analysis, in 2017, CNN used more Republican than Democratic terms and the other networks were only slightly left-leaning, even MSNBC, compared to liberal outliers like Vox and Buzzfeed. By 2022, all had become more Democratic-oriented except Fox News. One chart showed changes for CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Of twelve topics, nine had moved leftward. The only three moving to the right were immigration, health care, and abortion. The Economist analysis did not cover radio or social media and did not include The Wall Street Journal (the analysts used academic sources which had limitations described in the article).
The Economist’s summation? “Journalists can still say that one party’s views are closer to the truth than the other’s without relying on partisan language.”
As a media researcher, I can only offer congratulations on a study from a truly reliable publication that did an extensive and careful dive into the data. For news/talk radio, read the full story as well as the accompanying pieces and especially James Bennet’s essay on his experiences at The New York Times. Heading into the 2024 elections, it’s enlightening and worth talking about complete with actual data regarding the mainstream media rather than conjecture.
Since this is my last column for 2023, I’d like to get a bit personal. If you’ve been a regular reader, you know that I moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky this year. While it’s a nice place, the only reason to pull up stakes from the D.C. area was my wonderful girlfriend, Felecia Hudson. She’s very special and even more so in that she can put up with me! I also want to offer a thank you to her granddaughter, Iris, who makes sure I write my column on time as well as do my homework for my class at Western Kentucky University. Iris is 9 and a joy…most of the time!
Next, I’d like to recognize David Gleason for his award from the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation. If you haven’t checked out worldradiohistory.com, go there. He has tons of cool material. And congratulations to Buzz Knight for all the blood sweat and tears (and miles) he’s put into his “Taking a Walk” podcast which is now part of the iHeart Podcast Network.
Finally, thanks to Jason Barrett. Jason and I had never met when he reached out to me via LinkedIn earlier this year and asked if I’d write this column. After some internal deliberation, the best response was “Why not?” and so here we are after seven months. It’s fun to do because, unlike most people who write for the trades, I don’t need another gig and that lets me say some things others might avoid. Jason has been incredibly supportive, and I really appreciate it.
One last thing: you’ve probably read appeals for contributions to the Broadcasters Foundation of America. Let me add my voice as well. I’ve donated every year since 2007 and recently added the BFOA to my estate plans, in other words, I’m putting my money where my mouth is. I hope you’ll consider helping others who are part of our business and have fallen on hard times.
Have a great holiday season and let’s meet again next year!
