....except when they're conservative.
Maybe ideology doesn't have so much to do with what's killing newspapers after all.
UPDATE: Great history here of media liberalism in the 2000s (h/t Atrios), such as:
And that other supposedly ferociously liberal daily, The Washington Post, how did it cover the crucial months prior to the Iraq war? Basically, the paper couldn't stop publishing pro-war editorials -- 26 in all between September 2002 and February 2003. As for its columnists and contributors, it was like a neoconservative open casting call as the Post flooded its readers with an avalanche of war cheerleaders.
The pro-war march at times seemed to fog the paper's news judgment. In September 2002, Sen. Ted Kennedy made a passionate, provocative, and newsworthy speech raising all sorts of doubts about the war. It was a speech in which the liberal senator warned against virtually every major shortfall that eventually plagued the post-invasion operation. Yet the prophetic speech garnered just one sentence -- 36 words total -- of coverage from the Post, which in 2002 printed more than a thousand articles and columns, totaling perhaps 1 million words about Iraq.
Did I mention that posting -- unlike the recent snow -- will be extremely light this week. As it should be. It's Christmas week! It's not like they're going to overhaul the American health care system or anything. Use this as an open thread to discuss whatever's on your mind -- not just the media's liberal bias. Like....the Eagles are good? What up with that? And are you still "electrified" by AI? Did I not warn you?
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Dbops....you're so angry. Liberalism isn't killing newspapers. Alternative media and a 24 news cycle on cable are making them obsolete. By the time papers go to print the news is already "old". I thought progressives were supposed to embrace progress. How come Dan Rather is advocating for a gov't bailout of newspapers. Isn't that impeding progress? I'm just looking for some consistency. The only things liberalism has killed are the political careers of 10-12 senators and maybe 30+ representatives in 2010. They'll be ok though. Unemployment should be all fixed by then.— pjsz1261
Nice cherry picking Will...a paper started in 1982 by the Moonies that needed to compete against the Post in the DC market. Newspapers aren't dying because they are liberal...they are dying because they are clearly biased and keep avowing that they aren't biased. They are insulting the intelligence of their readers, hence readership/circulation goes down.— rudytbone- Only in 99 out of 100 cases.— tr88
- Keep those liberal papers flourishing. What else can we use to cover the bottom of the bird cages. Or plug the holes in our conservative shoes once we fully convert to socialism.— AngryWhiteMale
- the liberal ideology of newspapers has absolutely nothing to do with their current demise.— Bud Fox
Keep thinking that, Will. Liberalism destroys everything else it touches, like economies, pubilc scools, MSNBC, and unborn babies. Why would newspapers be any different?— jmc
Man, if the the CIA and Moonies can't prop up a newspaper anymore, what hope does's a legitimate paper have?— Hamlet- Massive, crushing debt, even the cool kids in Europe are doin' it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34520361/ns/world_news-washington_post/— RG
- i've said this before -- the publishing industry absolutely has failed to adjust to an internet world and thusly deserves to die a Darwinian death. You've had since 1992 to recognize the coming of the internet and do something about it. You've failed.— IggleFan68
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- Pets contribute to global warming, so its time to take Rover out back: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091220/sc_afp/lifestyleclimatewarminganimalsfood— RG
- As tired as I have been for years reading the predictably and predominantly liberal opinion pages (and even some reporting) in the Inky, the WPost and the NYTimes, I've never really believed that it was their liberal viewpoint that got them into financial trouble. I suppose at the margins of subscription, some folks cancelled their subscriptions due to that overarching liberalism, but I doubt the numbers are that significant. I could be wrong. It's probably Bush's fault.— pj katauskas
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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