Why is the media so out of touch with America? ( you ask) ... Because they’re rich! Oh, the irony!
I'm not going to defend the left-wing bias of much of the media. However, a look at what reporters are paid would indicate pretty clearly that very few in the media are anywhere close to rich.
Surveys have consistently shown that graduates with journalism degrees earn close to the bottom of the pay scale compared to their colleagues with degrees in other fields.
These posts debating in news circles whether a journalism degree is useless aren't exactly on-topic, but they'll give a good idea of what aspiring reporters face, economically speaking:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2011/04/27/20-most-useless-degrees.html
http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/journalism-degree-is-not-useless_b4940
This item from the third article in that list is a good summary of the issues: “In April, journalism topped the Daily Beast’s list of 20 Most Useless Degrees. Journalism doesn’t pay well and your student loans may very well be greater than your first salary as a reporter. But who goes into journalism thinking they will make a six figure salary? Being a reporter is tough, no doubt about it.”
The salary levels cited by Daily Beast are actually **WAY** higher than I've seen; their idea of “median pay” includes not only the small newspapers in rural areas where most reporters get their start, but also large urban areas, and also includes entry-level behind-the-scenes positions in television stations where the pay scales are on a whole different order of magnitude.
Here's the practical reality: I just hired a new staff member last week with many years of experience, including senior management positions at some mid-sized East Coast newspapers before they downsized; he quit knowing what was coming soon. I have a freelancer working for me who left another East Coast newspaper under similar circumstances. The new person will be lucky if he ever earns $20,000 per year working for me. The freelancer is primarily doing public relations work for a large Southern company and only part-time work for me because he knows he will never be able to get a full-time job in journalism capable of supporting his growing family, and he doesn't want to have his wife work outside the home. I'd like to pay both of them more, but it won't happen barring something totally unexpected on the business end of my operations.
I probably ought to add that while all businesses are having problems today, the low salaries aren't because we're losing readers. My operation is hiring staff, has the highest readership of any of my competitors, and is seeing regular increases in both circulation and ad revenue. That's almost unheard of in today's environment, and it got me profiled as one of six successful news entrepreneurs in Editor and Publisher Magazine: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Features/Article/Six-Newspaper-Entrepreneurs-and-Their-Road-to-Success . The business reality, however, is I simply cannot afford to pay more, and I personally work hundred-hour weeks on a regular basis because I won't ask things of my people that I won't do myself.
By the way, both of the two men I mentioned happen to be strong evangelicals and political conservatives. That certainly didn't help their careers, and I've personally run into all kinds of anti-Christian and anti-conservative bias in the media, but please remember that not all of us in the media are God-hating anti-American pseudo-Commies.