Rodent Regatta

Biting the Liberal Hand

by Craig J. Cantoni

(part of a point-counterpoint appearing in The Arizona Republic)

Since I don’t request payment for writing these columns, this won’t be a case of biting the hand that feeds me. But it will be a case of biting the hand that doesn’t feed me.

Does the media have a liberal bias?

For an answer, let’s look at examples of how this newspaper covers the news, which is the same way that almost all big-city dailies cover the news—namely, according to a formula taught in journalism schools, which of course don’t have a liberal bias (wink, wink).

– In a story earlier this year about proposed cuts in state spending, this newspaper quoted 12 people who were either government employees or on the public dole. It did not quote one taxpayer who was in favor of the cuts. Could it be that in a state of five million people, there is not one person who thinks that state spending is too high? – A more recent story on proposed early childhood development programs followed the same formula. It only quoted individuals and advocacy groups that were in favor of the government indoctrinating kids at an even earlier age. It made no mention of scholarly studies and groups that question the value of such programs. – Many ”news” stories on public education continue to say that the state ranks 48th in education spending. True to form, the stories quote the head of the teacher union but ignore the reputable studies that have called the statistic a canard. – Coverage of light rail continues to conveniently overlook the fact that riders of the system will get a subsidy of over $8 per ride from non-riders. That means that an employee of this newspaper who commutes to and from work by light rail over a 25-year career will receive a taxpayer subsidy of over $100,000. – The Goldwater Institute gets a ”conservative” label, but the liberal Morrison Institute and the leftist Children’s Action Alliance are left label-free. Reporters justify the disparate treatment by the fact that the Goldwater Institute admits that it is conservative but the other two organizations do not admit their ideology. In other words, deviousness is rewarded if it comes from the left.

Does this newspaper and other mainstream media have a liberal bias? Let me bite that left hand. Chomp, chomp. Of course they do, because their reporters do.

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Mr. Cantoni is an author, public speaker and consultant. He can be reached at ccan2@aol.com