The Nexus

For years, we have all heard numerous complaints about the liberal media bias that supposedly infiltrates our television and radio sets.

And for years, when asked to produce examples, those who decried the liberal media only give empty suggestions of CNN and NPR.

And in response, the liberals hurled claims of how biased Fox News was.

Nobody could keep their dignity and defend Fox News from these claims (except the anchors of shows on the channel, who seemed unaware that their empty testimonies of unbiased news reporting weren’t convincing anyone).

But for some reason pundits could still talk about the liberal media bias without being completely torn apart by fellow news analysts, even with the multiple evident flaws in their argument.

First off, anyone who has ever listened to NPR knows a few things. NPR is extremely unbiased in its reporting, which often covers international affairs.

They are so dry and unbiased in their reporting that they have mastered the astounding capability to make almost any topic boring.

And the only interesting segments are about their reporters’ personal excursions into such things as learning how to cook in China.

As for CNN, the most remarkable character on that network is the ever-amusing Lou Dobbs, who has an obvious libertarian slant to go with an over-inflated ego, and in his rants, he tends to lean towards the conservative side of the spectrum.

The other anchors on the network, most notably the prime time ones, are not known for being either liberal or conservative.

But now the naysayers of the networks, the heralds of the liberal media bias, have a new source to point to.

They now have MSNBC. Its recent dramatic increases in viewership have led to the channel getting more attention, and it isn’t boding well for liberals.

The three prime time anchors of the channel are comprised of a grouping of staunch liberals.

Chris Matthews used to be a democratic strategist. Rachel Maddow is a host of an Air America program. And Keith, well, he is undeniably extremely liberal.

With the extra liberalization of MSNBC, they have garnered the strongest growth in viewership among the three main cable news channels.

Olbermann, who has always been opinionates, has recently taken it to extreme measures in his show, and with that his ratings improved.

In 2006 alone, Countdown with Keith Olbermann’s viewership gained 33 percent.

This new movement by MSNBC shows a concerning trend in mainstream politics today.

With the lessening of reliable news sources today, the American public is being shorted the opportunity to gain the facts that are important to their lives in a straightforward manner.

But that’s because the executives behind the operations at these networks believe that they can jettison their journalistic credibility in order to garner greater ratings.

And those heads of the networks suggest that they are not aware that they are harming the American public.

They maintain that they are a group of people just trying to help the citizenry of the United States.

They still claim innocence.

“It (the liberal prime time lineup) happened naturally,” MSNBC president Phil Griffin stated, “There isn’t a dogma we’re putting through. There is a ‘Go for it.’”

This lineup will hurt liberals, who will no longer be able to claim complete separation from the media bias, unless they wish to sound foolish.

Also, little do the leaders of the networks realize, while their attempts to reap great ratings by making their channels more opinionated will only help in the short run.

During both of the conventions, CNN, the least opinionated of all the channels, had the best ratings, showing that the American people truly lust for unbiased news sources at the end of the day.

And on a much larger and much more important scale, this will deal a harsh blow to all of the American public that is concerned with getting their news without a slant, much greater than the negative impact Fox News has dealt.

With MSNBC becoming more liberal and Fox News remaining the breeding ground of Republican talking points, the American public is struggling to find a news source that they can really trust, one where they know they are getting the story, straight and simple.

Mainstream media needs to enter a journalistic golden age, where journalists revere journalistic excellence and integrity above all else, not ratings.