I always get a good laugh when those on the left claim that the MSM is too conservative, because of corporate ownership. Howard Kurtz takes that notion down rather decisively.

The people who own the networks may be conservative, but they don't run the news coverage (although they can influence it indirectly through budgets and the like). The book demonstrates that after an embarrassingly inadequate performance in the runup to the war -- along with the rest of the media -- the network newscasts took the lead in aggressive and skeptical coverage of the Iraq conflict in 2005 and 2006, both through the anchors and the reporting of folks like Lara Logan and Richard Engel.

Indeed, we have long seen that those in the decision-making loop about the content of the news are ovewhelmingly liberal/Democrat in their orientation. After all, the owners are more interested in the bottom line than the politics of the show, and would gladly broadcast a half-hour of propaganda by Kim Jong Il delivering political speeches if it could bing in sufficient advertising revenue.

Posted by: Greg at 10:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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