MSNBC Bad for NBC News?

This is a puzzling turn of events, and not without irony. We've been fed such a steady diet of "the mainstream media is liberally biased," that we tend to forget that it hasn't been, not really. NBC, ABC, CBS, even CNN have generally been pretty even-handed with the news. While this has been my opinion, it has been backed up by a number of studies and books I've read, so I'm not alone.*

My take on the matter is that the absence of rightward-leaning news bias is interpreted by right-wingers as leftward bias. Sort of like cold being the absence of heat. As a counterpoint, if news has a genuine rightward bias, right-wingers tend to think it's the porridge Goldilocks ate--just right.

FOX "News" has been around for a dozen years now, and ever since its inception, it has had a genuine rightward bias. Comically (and frustratingly), fans of the channel--coincidentally nearly 100% conservative--deny that FOX has such a bias. I remember that my cable provider was a bit tardy in picking up the FOX "News" Channel. How did I find out about it? Our local Rush Limbaugh/Sean Hannity talk radio station had a petition drive to get FOX instated on our channel roster. Ah, but there is no connection between the fan base, the radio station, and the bias of the channel, right?

Nowadays, MSNBC--long the redheaded stepchild of cable news--has experienced a ratings surge, on the heels of leftward-leaning Countdown with Keith Olbermann. As far as I can tell, Countdown wasn't particularly biased at first. As Bush's popularity dove, and then stabilized at about 28%, Countdown's leftward tilt started to become more obvious. But here's the funny part. . .

If news in general has always had a left-leaning bias, why is there suddenly a huge tempest brewing against MSNBC? Could it be that a genuine left-leaning program like Countdown stands out like a sore thumb? Could it be--just maybe--that most of the rest of the news is actually pretty moderate? Here's an idea. Let's label all news-commentary shows as such. That would be a pretty simple solution, except that FOX "News"--being entirely biased--would have to change their name to "FOX Right-wing Tools," or something.

[Excerpt]

NBC News, MSNBC: Uneasy coexistence?

NBC News has managed to achieve the near-impossible this election season in getting Hillary Rodham Clinton and George Bush to agree on something.

That something, however, is antipathy toward NBC News. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

*For some background on media bias, try this, this and this. I've read so many political and media non-fiction books and reports, it is difficult to remember the sources sometimes. Three authors who have written about the unconventional wisdom of media bias are Thom Hartmann, Greg Palast and David Brock. Check them out.