A Tale of Two News Sources

When it comes to the popular television news media, there really are only two sources. Fox News and virtually everyone else. Don't get me wrong, MSNBC and CNN have different personalities and they each have shows that are entertaining and informative in their own right. However, when it comes to ideological slant, CNN and MSNBC are largely Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum. The only difference is that MSNBC tends to be more liberal than CNN, but they are both remarkably similar.

Usually I watch Fox News and Fox Business as my primary TV information source. As I do that, I wonder how anyone could vote for the Obama and Biden ticket. It isn't that these networks simply rant against liberal politicians, but they tend to methodically review both sides and allow viewers to come to their own conclusion. Further, there is no glorification of individuals or philosophies, but typically a balancing act between various ideologies. It is true, most of the hosts have backgrounds that indicate they lean to the right, but certainly not all of them. Furthermore, when there is a larger panel of more than two or three, the voices tend to lean to the right. However, generally speaking, they seem to strive towards their motto of "fair and balanced."


There are shows I enjoy on CNN. I, of course, like Glenn Beck (who is certainly more libertarian than conservative), News to Us (which is an excellent showcase of the convergence of media), and several other programs that make up my normal news intake. However, the network's hard news shows virtually always have a liberal bent. They simply interpret news from a liberal worldview as if they were the facts. Recently my friend Jessica Colon (Young Republicans) was on the Larry King Show to talk about the McCain campaign versus Obama. The panel had her -- the sole Republican -- on with five Democrats (not including King). I have never seen that on Fox and it did not reflect well on CNN.


Things may be even worse at MSNBC. Although I love its documentaries and the network does have a token conservative, Tucker Carlson (he seems to have a shrinking role at the network). The only other member of the news team who leaned to the Right was Joe Scarborough. The former Republican Congressman use to be one of the only prominent conservative voices on the network, but he has moved slowly to the left in the minds of many since he has begun his Morning Joe program. The situation at the network has gotten so bad that Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman, both very passionate and obviously liberal in perspective, are no longer to anchor political programming because they have gotten carried away in the past sitting in such chairs. What is funny about that is these two have been replaced by David Gregory, who has been President Bush's strongest media nemesis. At least MSNBC has a sense of humor.

So what is the moral of this tale? Friends of Fox, beware, because if you think your side is going to win in November you need to be checking out the views of other networks. Ditto to viewers of MSNBC and CNN. There is a huge audience that is getting a different perspective on the candidates from your preferred news sources. In the end, I am not surprised by the wild differences in attitudes between those who have opinions based on a specific network. In fact, I am surprised there isn't more disparity of opinion.



Kevin Price accurately predicted that Joe Biden would be the VP candidate of Obama three days before the announcement. He predicted a woman would be McCain's VP days before as well. Get his commentaries in your email box by contacting Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

The Race at "Meet the Press"

The memorial service for the great broadcast journalist was held today, but people are already beginning to speculate who will replace Tim Russert on NBC's Meet the Press. This process isn't driven by a lack of respect for Russert, but because of the fact that this is one of the highest rated news programs in the country and filling that seat is very important.

Reflections from MediaBistro:

The New York Times' Bill Carter and Jacques Steinberg raise a few of the expected names for potential Meet the Press anchor. "From inside NBC, the potential candidates include the evening news anchor, Brian Williams, who would be doing double duty (as [Bob] Schieffer did for a time at CBS), correspondents David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell and MSNBC hosts like Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough and Keith Olbermann," they write. "Several of those names are already lightning rods for critics, however" (emphasis added).

Allow this critic to be among the first to say "amen." Here is my assessment of these candidates:

* Brian Williams. Williams is sharp, smart, and articulate, but many blame him for the leftward reputation that has come to NBC. Furthermore, his current job is full time plus and so is the position at Meet the Press (especially if it continues to include the Washington Bureau Chief post).

* David Gregory. Gregory always seems to have an agenda. His style reminds me of Sam Donaldson. Tough? Yes, but quite selectively and he seems to be more vindictive towards some than others. That was what made Russert so great, he was an equal opportunity attacker.

* Andrea Mitchell. Generally speaking, I like Mitchell. However, the Meet the Press demographic is almost identical to those who view the evening news. The experiment of placing a female in the anchor chair at CBS with Katie Couric will have everyone moving with extreme caution at NBC.

* Chris Matthews. Matthews is very smart, but clearly very liberal. He wears his convictions on his sleeve. He loves certain guests and shows disdain towards others. He is very well versed on political and national affairs, but he doesn't seem to be the kind of personality that should be in the Meet the Press chair.

* Joe Scarborough. Scarborough's roots are Conservative, but in recent years he has worked very hard to simply be fair with everyone. Furthermore, like Russert, he has roots in politics that have led him to the media. As a Conservative, I would certainly favor Scarborough over the others being mentioned, but his ideological roots are too far too Conservative to make MSNBC comfortable, in my opinion.

* Keith Olbermann. I think Jon Stewart of the Daily Show would be better, in my opinion. He's funny without being angry. I am actually shocked that his name was even dropped in consideration. I hope is is pure speculation and not serious discussion.

Rumor has it, the race seems to have already narrowed to Gregory, Scarborough, and Matthews. I believe Scarborough was put in that group to avoid the characterization that MSNBC was only interested in Liberals. Furthermore, the rumor mill has seemed to eliminate Gregory and the buzz is surrounding Matthews, who is certainly the most political animal on the MSNBC scene.

The one name that was not mentioned in the process, and the one that I think would have been the strongest, was Tom Brokaw in an interim position. Brokaw is serious and knows his trade, regardless of how uncomfortable I might be with his ideology, he was cautious in how it demonstrated it. Furthermore, he enjoyed the highest ratings of any of the big three anchors. His emphasis on "the Greatest Generation" (those who sacrificed during WW II) has placated the concerns of many and he will appeal to the dominant, older viewer, audience.

The great thing about Brokaw, oddly, is that he seems past the desire to do such long term, which will lead to the opportunity to have many others sit in the chair and audition for the post while everyone knows it is in good hands. It will be interesting to see what NBC finally does to fill this massive void.

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Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Morning Joe Questions Media Objectivity

Joe Scarborough surprised many of us by taking Don Imus's spot early in the mornings on MSNBC. It was a surprise because Joe is very conservative for a network rapidly becoming known for its liberal bias. On today's show, Joe Scarborough pointed out how the NBC newsroom broke out in "boos" when President Bush delivered the State of the Union Address in 2003. He discussed such with a managing editor and it never happened again.

He brought this up after a Seattle newspaper editor criticized colleagues for breaking out in applause when Karl Rove announced his resignation last week. View his comments as they appeared today.

Scarborough comment raises an important point -- the blatant bias that exists in media today. Joe is noted as a conservative, which is fine in my opinion. Does this mean that he and I are hypocrites? I don't think so. There are, in fact, more than one aspects to the news. There is "hard news," which should be "just the facts." That is the approach that should be burdened on every news person in news delivery.

There is also the editorial department. The Joe Scarboroughs and Bill O'Reillys who clearly have an axe to grind. Editorial can be biased, as long as they make it clear they have their own agenda. My concern and the concern of Scarborough and others are those who ostensibly come across as objective, but clearly are not. When a newsroom of reporters feel they can comfortably attack someone because he (or she) is conservative, indicates a culture that has clearly lost sight of what "objective" means. Scarborough, and the rest of us, have legitimate reason for concern.