Why is there a liberal bias in the media and at the universities?

It is very difficult to suggest that the mainstream media and most universities professors generally have a liberal bias (both sides will exaggerate the extent of the bias鈥ut it is clearly there to some degree).





The most interesting question then becomes why this bias exists鈥?.Why is it that the most educated among us (the professors) and the ones that follow the news most closely (the journalists) lean to the left?|||Don't forget the scientists.





Apparently all the scientific organizations have a liberal bias and cannot be trusted with their evolution, big bang, and global warming theories.|||CRY ME A RIVER...maybe because they dont want to fill the world with lies and hatred like Fox news. Fox news has nothing good to say. Except" isnt bush doing such a great job fighting those terrorist."Bush created those so called terrorist in Iraq. Sadam had them all under control.|||This is a planned thing. The communists and America haters learned long ago that they could not take us militarily. So they had to come up with a plan to take the US down from the inside. They came up with a plan that uses our own laws and Constitution against us. To make this possible and to bring the gullabe into their fold, they needed to start a long slow campaign of infiltration. They got their people into established media outlets which had a monopoly at the time on propaganda until talk radio came along and thank God Fox news. Thats why the left wing wack jobs hate Fox so much. They also infiltrated a political party, the Democratic party. They get their people into positions of power so they can make destructive laws, remove good laws, and corrupt other laws. They infiltrated the judicial system to make that part complete. Now you have activist judges making law from the bench that violate our rights. They infiltrated the education system. They slowly removed all indicators of social responsibility, religion, and morals and replaced them with anti-social materials, and indoctrination into the promiscuois sex and homosexuality ways as being good and acceptable. They dumbed down the standards so the kids are too stupid to know when they are being duped, and too stupid to know what to do about it. For proof look at some of the gullable young idiots you see on this forum. Any opposition is quickly dealt with by the left wing media machine by character assasination, and manufactured left wing outrage.|||Well, I have to disagree with the premise of the first part of the question. I would argue that the liberal bias in the media is largely a fiction, at least as it exists now. Most mainstream newspapers are center right these days, with a few notable exceptions. Local news television is generally much the same. National networks are varied: FOX News is quite conservative; NBC is center left. And those who engage in news commentary are overwhelmingly on the right.





It is true, however, that those at universities tend to be on the left. There are several reasons for this. First, the nature of intellectual inquiry tends to require a subtlety of critical thought generally not pursued in the real world. That means that qualified, more complex questions are asked and answered in the same way. Simplistic explanations and clear absolute statements are not in the nature of intellectual inquiry.





Second, universities tend to be more liberal because intellectual inquiry forces those engaged in this activity to be open-minded. New answers and changes in interpretation are common. I am not sure that this is so much liberal as antitthetical to conservative thought. To conservatives, then, this can be considered liberal.





Finally, academics are often the most articulate and often outspoken spokesmen and women for liberal thought. That is, they are often perceived as the brains of liberal thought. In point of fact, however, if you polled academics, you would find that in many disciplines (economics, business, law, some of the sciences), you would find a large number of conservative thinkers as well.





But honestly, this is a tempest in a teapot. Those who graduate from college do not greatly change their poltical opinions. Yes, there may be some movement, but the numbers of university educated liberals are probably a lesser number than university educated conservatives.|||Good question.





A multifaceted answer.





This is a funny article.


Duke and the Death of Academe


http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/ande鈥?/a>


A cool article by Rothbard


The Student Revolution (long and from 1969)


http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/roth鈥?/a>





One major part of it is the tax funded universities.


Centralization and Education: Oil and Water


http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north44鈥?/a>





Academic Philosophy Today:Thanks, But No Thanks


http://www.lewrockwell.com/yates/yates25鈥?/a>





A Post-Liberal America


http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/gottfrie鈥?/a>|||That is a good question. Especially when it is more profitable to pander to the right.





And another good question is this: assuming there IS aliberal bias, is that bad? I mean, Americans is a very conservative country, so the pressumed bias isn't doing much to influence people.





EDIT: To the dude above me who think that liberals are incompetent and so "languish" in universities - you can look up average salaries of professions and University professors are second highest on that list.|||Sadly, liberalism is spreading like a virus through not only our universities, but our public schools as well.





It's not new, it's started in the 60's, and not those that started it are teaching it. Socialism, Communism, anti-Capitalism.





They demonize corporations, they infiltrate the media, they undermine all that is decent and honorable. They use class envy, race baiting, and half truths to deceive.





This is how they control people, keep them needy and weak. That's why they rally to support affirmative action, because it empowers them, makes then appear needed.





They use Hollywood to spread propaganda and decadence. And worst of all, they have no shame, feel no remorse, for usurping the sovereignty of our nation.|||What a bunch of morons on YA i did not see in your question anything about Fox news some of you people need to learn how to comprehend, back to the question.one of the fundamental reason why these 2 groups are so liberal is because if you look at both profession they tend to idealistic and based most ideas on theory not what has prov en to work. Both profession do not really produce any tangible products in society they basically come from a place where they believe they can change the world just because of their perceived intellect, but if this correct most of mankind problems would have been solved long ago.|||I really don't think the media is all THAT liberal. Especially when compared to academia. I think the liberal bias in schools comes from a propensity for academic types to go into that environment. I think most cons prefer to go into other fields of work.





And this whole liberal bias is in the the pseudo-sciences- politics, sociology, etc. You don't see liberal bias in hard-science as there is essentially NO opinion there-- 1+1 always equals 2, The earth revolves around the sun, F=ma, E=MC^2. etc.|||HAHAHAHA... some of these answers...





and they say liberals are conspiracy theorist... some of these guys... WOW... it's just as crazy as any Bohemian Grove stuff I've seen...





but anyway... I think it really depends on what you call "liberal"... I don't usually like to get into semantics, but I think people who are open to new ideas are generally considered to be "liberal"





and it so happens, that the media and colleges really need people who are open to new ideas... it's kind of part of the job, more often than not...





if you're not open to new ideas in those fields... you're probably not very good at your job...





I mean, think of a science teacher at a university, which they often do research on the side... if they never had any original ideas, science would never progress, never change...





same with the media, to a lesser degree... but you're probably never going to break a huge story, if you're hanging out around the same sources all day... you have to get out there and look for what others aren't seeing... dig deeper and think outside the box... liberal qualities...|||the major factor is that these people haven't had to actually produce a product that people would willingly buy, so they think that nobody else has to produce either|||There's not a liberal bias in media and universities.





Today- the Republican party has become such a fringe group of extremism and profound mental disorder that anything outside of their tiny sphere of "sense" seems so shockingly out in "left field" that they are taken aback.





It's the exact same tactic that cults use to brainwash their victims. They prey upon the disillusioned or just unintelligent of society and then isolate them and then beat into their heads that the entire rest of the world DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THEM or IS OUT TO GET THEM or is TRYING TO UNDERMINE THE SANCTITY OF THE CULT.





That is PRECISELY what we see in the GOP of today. CULTIST/BRAINWASHING tactics. This last Pres. campaign cycle they even had their "secret hand signal" (just like the Nazis) the three-fingered "W" which is another common tactic of cultists and brainwashers : secret handshakes etc.





NO SORRY - the ENTIRE WORLD IS NOT OUT TO GET THE GOP - the HUMAN RACE IS JUST LIVING AS WE WISH - THE GOP HAS MERELY USED CULT / BRAINWASHING techniques on it's followers because THEY KNOW THAT THEY ARE UTTERLY BEREFT of ANYTHING BENEFICIAL which would LEAD PEOPLE TO THEM NATURALLY. SO THEY have no resort but to make issues about "US VS. THE WORLD" to keep followers in FEAR and SUBJUGATED and UNDER THE GOP FASCIST THUMB.|||Gee I don't know. Maybe being informed and educated is better.|||Man Dave, what a great question.





The answer is pretty simple if you look back at history, the real history not something made up to support a political position today.





There was a plan put in place back in the 50's/60's, and it is/has been followed very closely by the Democrat Party pretty much since FDR.





Please read the document, it is a matter of congressional record, and it clearly states who is doing it and why.|||Hate media bias? --then turn off Fox News!|||Because it is an idealistic view of the world and a denial of reality as it exists. After WWII people came up w/ the idea that "you deserve" because "you are you" take that to an extreme and you get liberalism. You deserve, others deserve but, it never comes up with the solution for where the money, rights, time, etc., etc., are coming from.|||Those who can do....do.





Those who cannot...teach.





Liberals tend to be incompetent. They can't apply their chosen professions in the real world, so they languish in universities to spread their hatred and bile to young minds.





Young republicans start companies (Like Microsoft, Dell, Starbucks, Oracle, etc.)





EDIT: To the dude below me who thinks university professors make a lot of money.





Compare a professor's salary to the net worth of Bill Gates or Mike Dell.





Thought so.





EDIT2: You're billionaire link is broken (big surprise). Try another gimmick.|||If you think Fox News is liberal, stay off the crack.





As for universities, just because they are "the most educated" does not mean they are the smartest or that they have sense or wisdom. University professors tend to be isolated from the "real world", interacting with students who are pursuing the same goals as their instructors. These are people who can afford to be liberal, living the life they lead paid from money earned by capitalists, corporations and warriors.|||Liberals lose touch with reality. If it was a perfect world, like in one of those Walgreen commercials where everything is perfect, a liberal might be tolerated.





But in case you have not noticed, this is a kill or be killed world. Life comes at a cost, it is not a "Walgreen's moment."





What I find more interesting is that whenever there is a revolution the first thing done is to drag out and kill those frigging Liberals that sit in lofty places as they pseudo-intellectually vegetate their minds with preoccupation of a Utopian world run by them and other "Light in the loafer" sort.





Educated and intelligent are not inclusive. Perhaps that is the error of your way, that you mistakenly believe that you are intelligent because others of your kind tell you so. Manipulation through flattery, what a jerk!





Perhaps you should consider the aphorism: Speak quietly but carry a big stick.|||I have seen both liberal and conservative teachers. One example is Dr. Condaleezza Rice who was a professor and will probably go back to teaching when she is done with her current assignment. I would hardly call Dr. Rice a liberal.





That said, yes, there are a few more liberals in academia. Why do we learn? To advance ourselves and help others to advance. Since liberalism is about progress or advancement it makes sense that there would be a tendency for those who want to move forward to seek more knowledge. Staying stagnant or going backward requires no particular knowledge beyond what one already knows.





Academics know that all of the improvements to what we have in human existance has come from those thought way to liberal in their thought and action. Academics know this and so they favor the philosophies that promote man's growth and betterment.





Leonardo DaVinci and Michaelangelo were often in trouble with either the church or secular government because they were liberal for their time. But look what they gave us. Gallileo was put under house arrest for believing that the Earth was not the center of the solar system. What would the world be like had there not been liberal thinkers? Would we even have caputured fire or learned how to make it?|||Because if their high Intelligence quota....|||Intelligent people like professors and journalists are usually more liberal. Its the morons that are conservatives.