Bias and the Money Trail

The refusal of the New York Times to publish a McCain rebuttal to Obama’s recent bombastic Iraq op-ed piece and his showboating photo-op of a world tour may be disappointing, but it is by no means surprising. Liberal media bias is certainly not new news. But just when it seemed as if it couldn’t get any worse, it has. As American’s for Tax Reform analyst William Tate has said, “True proof of an ever-expanding media bias merely requires one to acknowledge an old journalism maxim: follow the money.”

An analysis of federal records shows that the amount of money mainstream journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 ratio over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans. Two-hundred thirty-five journalists donated to Democrats, just 20 gave to Republicans--a margin greater than 10-to-1. An even greater disparity, 20-to-1, exists between the number of journalists who donated to Obama and McCain.

Searches for other newsroom categories (digital media publishers, freelance reporters, internet correspondents, news editors, on-line anchors, web editors, photographers, syndicated bloggers, feed podcasters, and cartoonists) produces even greater disparity. Among these, donations totaled $315,533 to Democrats, $3,150 to Republicans--a ratio of 100-to-1.

Surprised? Hardly.