Media bias depends on point of view

Most of us learned to identify a writer’s point of view in high school literature. It is a skill I often use when I read the newspaper. In an Associated Press story about the five men accused of blowing up a bridge who were part of the Occupy movement in Cleveland, the writer was quick to point out that this violence had nothing to do with the Occupy movement. It is certainly not hard to figure out if the writer has a favorable view of the Occupy movement.

Now let’s connect this idea to Fox News. Why do liberals hate Fox News so much? Fox reports from a conservative point of view and then suggests their news is fair and balanced. This drives liberals crazy. They just cannot conceive of the idea that the news reported from a conservative point of view could be anything but lies and propaganda.

Now one might think that these Fox News bashers would at least have a little empathy for conservatives who have complained for many years about the liberal bias in the mainstream media. My liberal friends just shrug and say they don’t really see any bias in the rest of the media.

Connect the story like the one above to the Gabrielle Giffords’ shooting. When Giffords was shot, the AP and other media outlets immediately tried to link the shooting to what they called the violent rhetoric of the Tea Party -- though it later turned out that the Tea Party had nothing to do with the shooting.

I am not suggesting that point of view automatically equals bias, but I do have trouble understanding how liberals, who attack the idea of liberal bias, find bias so easily recognizable when it comes to Fox News.

Scott Schmidt

Arlington Heights