The biggest media bias that no one is talking about is obscuring a violent Republican crime wave...

[Nevilledog]

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https://www.editorialboard.com/the-biggest-media-bias-that-no-one-is-talking-about-is-obscuring-a-violent-republican-crime-wave-that-no-one-is-talking-about/

https://www.editorialboard.com/the-biggest-media-bias-that-no-one-is-talking-about-is-obscuring-a-violent-republican-crime-wave-that-no-one-is-talking-about/

When most people think about “bias” in news coverage, they usually think of some kind of ideological bent, as if the Post, say, is trying to advance some kind of political agenda with its journalism. While this does apply to right-wing outlets, like the Washington Examiner, most of the rest of the press corps isn’t ideological as we would normally understand that word.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t bias, though.

The most prominent bias comes from journalists merely doing their jobs. Choices have to be made. Cover this story, not that story, for this reason, not that reason. In these choices, news outlets reveal their bias. The Times, for instance, is not center-left. It’s a publication of the very obscenely rich, that is, the American elite. When it comes to deciding “the news that’s fit to print,” the elites who work there tend to focus on other elites and what they think — to the exclusion of other points of view, because why be inclusive when you’re elite? This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can be, like in the middle of a pandemic.

Elites tend to believe they’re elite, because they’re elite. They are deserving of wealth and power, in other words. Never mind that most, though not all, elites were born successful, and never mind they were born into eliteness on account of governments favoring their families. This context has serious ramifications with respect to political values. Freedom, for elites, isn’t rooted in democracy, community or mutual obligation. Instead, it arises from the absence of coercion, especially by the primary instrument of democracy, community or mutual obligation: government. Choosing for oneself what’s good and right — that’s freedom. Fine and dandy, except in the middle of a pandemic.

The Washington press corps’ presumption that freedom is about choice, not responsibility, is warping our shared understanding of the pandemic. (In this, the Times isn’t alone.) On the one hand, the presumption minimizes the damage being done by those who refuse to wear masks or, especially, who refuse to get vaccinated. On the other hand, it gives these people the appearance of pursuing something noble. Instead of being presented as saboteurs, they are presented as individuals fighting for their rights. When they are presented as saboteurs (which I think is accurate), we are told they’re a political problem that the president has yet to figure out a way to solve.

*snip*