Shocker: Veteran WaPo Reporter Admits MSM's Bias Is "Overwhelmingly To The Left"

NewsBusters.org ^ | 22 September 2006 | Dave Pierre

[infoguy]

On his radio show yesterday (Thursday, September 21, 2006), host Hugh Hewitt interviewed Thomas B. Edsall, who up until recently was a senior political reporter for the Washington Post. He had been with the paper for 25 years. Through precise and direct questioning by Hewitt, Edsall admitted something that is rarely heard from a liberal these days. In a shocking admission, Edsall articulated that the biases of the mainstream media are "overwhelmingly to the left." He also proposed that Democratic reporters outnumber Republicans "in the range of 15-25 to 1"!

In the interview, as Hewitt and Edsall discussed the rise of conservative talk radio and the biases of the mainstream media, Edsall stated the following:

EDSALL: ... I agree that whatever you want to call it, mainstream media, presents itself as unbiased, when in fact, there are built into it many biases, and they are overwhelmingly to the left.

Hewitt appeared so surprised by the remark that, after a pause, he replied, "Well, that's very candid." Candid, indeed, Hugh!

But, wait. There's more.

On the topic of the political allegiances of "big name political reporters," the following exchange took place:

HEWITT: [Jim Vandehei of the Washington Post] probably is a Republican. But given that number of reporters out there, is it ten to one Democrat to Republican? Twenty to one Democrat to Republican?

EDSALL: It’s probably in the range of 15-25:1 Democrat.

Whoa! The must-read transcript of this eye-opener is at Hugh Hewitt's blog at TownHall.com. Must-hear audio is available here.

In addition to his years at the Washington Post, Edsall has penned pieces for the American Prospect and The New Republic. One of his most recent works is a book called Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power. It has been billed as a "masterful--and disturbing--work of political journalism that challenges all of us to wake up and take heed before the world has changed beyond recognition."

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Here's more from the exchange in which Edsall admitted the MSM's bias is "overwhelmingly to the left." Again, this is from Hugh Hewitt's blog at TownHall.com:

HEWITT: ... The reason talk radio exploded, followed by Fox News, followed by the center-right blogosphere, is that because folks like you have been the dominant voice in American media for a long time, and you’re a pretty thoroughgoing, Democratic favoring, agenda journalist for the left, and you’ve been the senior political reporter of the Washington Post for a very long time. And people didn’t trust your news product…not you, personally, but the accumulation of you, throughout the L.A. Times, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and they got sick and tired of being spoon fed liberal dross, and they went to the radio when an alternative product came along.

EDSALL: To a certain degree, I agree with that.

HEWITT: And so, why do you think it’s wrong, somehow, for people to want to hear news that they don’t consider as biased? I mean, that’s what it is. It’s just unbiased news is what people wanted. That’s why conservatives like me got platforms, and our blogs get read, and our columns get absorbed.

EDSALL: One, I don’t think it’s unbiased.

HEWITT: It’s transparent at least. Everyone has bias. I agree with that. Everyone’s got bias.

EDSALL: It’s transparent. Okay, that I would agree. And I agree that whatever you want to call it, mainstream media, presents itself as unbiased, when in fact, there are built into it many biases, and they are overwhelmingly to the left.

HEWITT: Well, that’s very candid.

EDSALL: Well…

HEWITT: Have you ever said that…in the course…when you were working for the Post, would you tell people who you voted for, and how liberal you were?

EDSALL: You mean people people?

Have a nice weekend.

[tobyhill]

The only reason I'm surprised is because he admitted it.

[The Great RJ]

That's like admitting coal is black and the sun is bright. The leftward bias in the US MSM is so blatant the only thing that can top it is the fauxtography and the choreographed propaganda of Reuters.

[festus]

EDSALL: You mean people people?

What other kind of people are there?

Well there's The Purple People....... www.thepurplepeople.org

Don't ask how I know these folks exist.............

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Owning the MSM is the Left's greatest accomplishment, followed by owning the educational system and dominating most municipal governments.

Don't forget the labor unons. Lots of money and "volunteers" for the Democrats.

[ChessExpert]

15 or 25:1 - I'm going on memory here, but I believe in Barbara Bush'a autobiography she said something like 4 or 5 of the 100 or so reporters in the pool admitted to voting for GHWB.

That seems right. Going on memory likewise, here are some tidbits. One member of the White House press corps did an informal survey of (then) current and past WH press corps and how they voted. I think Reagan got 2 and Carter 8. It was 10 for Mondale, 0 Reagan. I’ve also seen surveys of Washington Bureau Chiefs (around 250) and a large survey of the press (around 2,200). I think 8D to 1R, and 16 liberals to 1 conservative was typical.

[ForGod'sSake]

EDSALL:...mainstream media, presents itself as unbiased, when in fact, there are built into it many biases, and they are overwhelmingly to the left.

I would give a week's pay to hear the rest of his thoughts on this tidbit. After 25 years within the bowels of the beast, he surely has some insights that would be enlightening.

[backhoe]

Shoot fire, we've known this for years:

From my file "89% Voted"--

Public disclosure: Media are finally admitting their biases.

D.C. journalists favor Kerry 12 to 1: N.Y. Times informal poll confirms media lean left

Creator of 'Mr. Sterling' Admits: We TV Writers Are '99% Leftist'

Professor's Study Shows Liberal Bias in News Media

No Bias in Media, ha ha, tee hee

---92% voted for Clinton.

-Poll confirms Ivy League liberal tilt--

The Politics of Hollywood

---

From my own files:

-The Old Grey Info-Slut... the NYT/Jayson Blair Affair--

-The Access of Evil-- CNN's Duplicity --

-That "Rush" to Judgment- Limbaugh Links--

Scams, Scalawags, and an all-too-gullible Public...famous frauds sold to America

-The lies of Paul Krugman-( BLAIR, BRAGG, DOWD ... KRUGMAN? ) --

-60 Minutes to Infamy- those forged memos and The Shot Heard Round the World--

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[auboy]

Thanks for the ping.

[ForGod'sSake]

Thanks for the compilation backhoe. I was not aware we had so many self-confessions from the dark side. You are one of the best resources FR has. Thanks for your efforts.

FGS

[backhoe]

Your kind and encouraging words are appreciated- thank you.

[jwparkerjr]

re: every once in a blue moon

I used to do the weather page for a large daily newspaper. One of the features of the page was the "Ask the Newsteam" where readers would write, call or e-mail a weather-related question and we would prevail upon one of our tv-side weather people to answer it. A reader once asked what the term "blue moon" meant when he heard the weather-guy use it.

We had quite a go-'round with that one because the copy editor had an definition in mind different from the weather person's.

Just curious, what is your definition for the term? FYI, we went with a blue moon being those rare occasions when there are two full moons in a calendar month. I forget where we found it though.

[T Lady]

EDSALL: It’s transparent. Okay, that I would agree. And I agree that whatever you want to call it, mainstream media, presents itself as unbiased, when in fact, there are built into it many biases, and they are overwhelmingly to the left.

Like the Blind Squirrel grudgingly finding the proverbial acorn, isn't it?

...And a good example of that disgusting bias was found while I sat in the lobby of a New York hospital watching CNN Headline News, regarding the odious remarks made by Hugo Chavez. It seems they took an opportunity to repeat the remarks every half hour...while stating the Democrat's rebuttal only ONCE. In this particular case, the MSM wanted to make darn sure we (Americans and the rest of the world) that we knew what Hugo Chavez a murderer and an oppressive thug, thought of our President.

...This is one of the primary reasons I no longer have cable television in my home nor do I read any major newspapers, especially the New York Times or the Washington Post for that matter. I do however, extend a great deal of respect to Mr. Edsall for having the decency to admit the obvious.

[ChessExpert]

Thanks for the post.

There are also some interesting things in this interview concerning religion. Hugh Hewitt asks the questions and Thomas B. Edsall, the Washington Post editor, responds. Emphasis added.

HH: And is there also an underlying hostility to faith on the left?

TE: Among a segment of the left, and not insubstantial segment.
...

HH: Your newspaper wrote that Evangelicals were ill-educated, and easily led. Remember that one?

TE: That was one of the dumber things that’s been in the paper.

HH: Yeah, but it was in the paper.

TE: It was.

HH: And it got past editors.

TE: The only reason that the reporter who wrote it didn’t get in bigger trouble is that the editor who let it get by was someone of some prominence.

HH: Oh, what was his name?

TE: I’m not going to get into that, but it was someone of some power at the Washington Post, and there was no way they were going to mess with him.

HH: And so, they didn’t really have an early warning system. My guess is, because in the newsroom, and the newsrooms which I have worked, and that’s primarily PBS…

TE: I agree with you on this score, 100%.

HH: It’s very anti-religion, isn’t it?

TE: Well, it…certainly, they would let a quote by that, without, in many cases, without blinking, not recognizing that it was extraordinarily insulting.

HH: How about you? Are you a churchgoer, Thomas Edsall?

TE: No.

HH: Do you believe in God?

TE: No.

HH: And did you ever believe in God?

TE: No.

HH: Are you rare or the norm in a newsroom?

TE: Well, I would say I am rare in the scope and depth of my non-belief. I think there are a number of people who are sort of moderate believers.

HH: And if you had to, in the Washington Post right now, could you figure out who’d been to Church or Synagogue in the last month with great certainty?

TE: Among my friends.

HH: Okay. Now were there some religious people there, you know, deeply religious people?

TE: Well, I think my buddy, Jim Vandehei…Dana Milbank, who you’re probably familiar with.

HH: Oh, yeah. He’s been on the program.

TE: …is fairly active in his Synagogue.

HH: Okay, so a couple. That’s great, but.

TE: Well, I mean, I’m not talking about…how many people would I know? Most people who go to Synagogue only go a couple times a year, of whatever, left, right or center. And Church attendance among…or Synagogue attendance among Jews at the Post is probably average.

[Robwin]

I am shocked, shocked that someone is claiming a leftist bias on the part of the MSM.