This is the final installment in a three-part series on media bias in the news. Click here to go to Parts 1 and 2 of the series.
Biased media coverage may be the result of news organizations failing to address multiple perspectives on any given issue, but many times bias creeps into the media through commentators and advocacy groups chosen to appear on or cite in the news, and by investors who may dictate not only how a topic is presented in the media, but what issues are covered.
Though it’s human for commentators to have their own opinion, their connections to any political organizations or causes that could have the possibility of altering the information a commentator shares with any news organization should be shared with the public every time the commentator appears. The same transparency rules should apply to think tank organizations and advocacy groups, as any bias in an organization, including to whom they give or receive money from, should be disclosed so the public is well informed on any inherent bias.
Since the corporate-controlled media continues to kowtow to big corporations and political pressure, Mint Press News has comprised a list comprised of five names commonly heard on major media networks. Before listening to the political opinion of the below-mentioned commentators or think tank organizations, take a look at their political affiliations and funding, and determine whether or not they are trustworthy.
James Carville: political consultant, Democratic strategist, political commentator, author, actor, producer, talk-show host, speaker, political science professor and restaurateur.
Carville first made a name for himself in 1986 when he managed the gubernatorial victory of Robert Casey in Pennsylvania. Most prominent victory was in 1992 when he helped President Bill Clinton win the presidency. For his work, Carville was honored as Campaign Manager of the Year in 1993 by the American Association of Political Consultants and his role in Clinton’s campaign was documented in the film, “The War Room.”
A three-point list he used in Clinton’s campaign has become common usage and includes highlighting:
— Change versus more of the same
— The economy, stupid
— Don’t forget health care
According to Politico, Carville, along with Paul Begala and Rahm Emanuel, was an architect of the Democratic Party’s strategy to cast conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party.
Most recently, Carville worked informally on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign and as an advisor on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, but the “Rajun’ Cajun” hasn’t really had any major victories in the political sphere since the early ‘90s, which should give news organizations pause before they invite the political strategist to provide perspective on a range of political issues.
Mary Matalin: Republican strategist, political consultant, author, editor, actor, political commentator, and talk-show host.
Matalin served under President Ronald Reagan, was campaign director for George H.W. Bush, assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney, where she worked as a senior advisor on issues including national security, homeland security, energy, economic growth and corporate governance policies.
Matalin was part of the internal White House task force called the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), which presented to Americans the threat of Saddam Hussein’s violations of international law in his refusal to cooperate with the United Nation’s weapons inspectors. She later resigned from her duties associated with this group and the Bush/Cheney White House on Dec. 31, 2002.
She has worked as chief editor of Threshold Editions, a conservative publishing imprint at Simon & Schuster since 2005. The company has published works of conservative pundits such as Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Glenn Beck.
The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution that was founded in 1973 to “formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense.”
The Heritage Foundation has more than 10 policy centers, which include: Center for Health Policy Studies, Center for International Trade and Economics, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, and DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society. Ranging in topics from Asian studies to what constitutes a just war to contraception, the foundation claims to have an expert on almost every topic debated in the political sphere.
On its website, the Heritage Foundation touts more than 3,700 videos, where its experts are featured on news programs, spanning from 1977 to the present year, 2013. Though Heritage Foundation experts have made appearances on CNN, MSNBC, NBC affiliates and the NewsHour, a majority of the news program Heritage Foundation experts have appeared on are mainly FOX news and its affiliates.
Created in 1916 by Robert S. Brookings, the Brookings Institution was the first think tank in the United States and is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. Its stated mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals:
- Strengthen American democracy;
- Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans; and
- Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system.
The think tank is the “most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tank,” according to the University of Pennsylvania’s annual report “Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings.” Brookings economic experts were enlisted to help craft the 1921 legislation that led to the creation of the first U.S. Bureau of the Budget, which planned the government’s financial outlays. While the organization started off as a moderate or center organization, SourceWatch reports that the institution began to become more right-leaning during the depression in the late 1920s, early 1930s. In the 1960s, the think tank backed Keynesian economics and in the ‘70s, formed a close relationship with the Republican Party.
The Brookings Institution has two sister organizations, the Institute of Economics, which was formed in 1922, and a graduate school, which was created in 1924. In 1927, the institutes and the school merged to form the present-day organization. Current related organizations include the Center for Public Policy Education and the Brookings Institution Press. The Brookings Institute also co-created the Tax Policy Center with the Urban Institute.
Since the 1990s, the Brookings Institution has become more of a right-wing organization, likely due to the influence of conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation. Though it touts itself as an independent research organization, the Brookings Institution has altered its stance on issues in an effort to stay relevant.
Competing with right-leaning organizations like the Heritage Foundation, it appears the Brookings Institution opted to swing to the right so that its experts could appear as a source for news outlets like FOX News that tend to prefer experts to be conservative.
In 2002, the Brookings created the Saban Center for Middle East Policy after receiving a $13 million pledge from Egyptian-born, Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban, a large media mogul who owns the equivalent of CBS, ABC, TBS and Nickelodeon. According to SourceWatch, Saban has admitted that he’s a one-issue guy, and his issue is Israel. But on the center’s website, Saban touts himself as someone who is interested in promoting “Arab-Israeli peace and preserving American interests in the Middle East ….”
But upon further inspection of the Saban Center, it appears the center is more concerned about U.S.-Israeli relations than any other Middle Eastern nation. The Saban Center’s founding director and senior research fellow, Martin Indyk, also has ties to Israel. In the 1980s, Indyk worked as a deputy research director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. Indyk also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel twice, once from April 1995 to September 1997, and another from January 2000 to July 2001, making him the first Jewish-American ambassador to Israel.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher acting as a resource to help professionals and ordinary citizens understand the world and foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
Founded in 1921, CFR says it takes no institutional positions on foreign policy issues and carries out its mission by maintaining a diverse membership, including special programs to promote interest and develop expertise in the next generation of foreign policy leaders.
CFR has a diverse array of members including: Brian Williams, news anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News; Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN’s flagship foreign affairs show, editor-at-large at TIME Magazine, Washington Post columnist and a New York Times bestselling author; Angelina Jolie, actress, film director and humanitarian; Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and now U.S. defense secretary; and Erin Burnett, a journalist and news anchor on CNN.
Though all of the above mentioned names may have an interest in foreign relations, is it really appropriate that Angelina Jolie makes decisions that affect foreign policy choices? Though her humanitarian efforts should be applauded, Ms. Jolie really has no business influencing foreign policy or leaders.
The David Rockefeller Studies Program — CFR’s think tank — is composed of more than 80 full-time and adjunct fellows who cover the major regions and significant issues shaping today’s international agenda. The program also includes recipients of several one-year fellowships.
According to SourceWatch, CFR holds regular private meetings, inviting members and select guests only, which has fueled criticism that the organization is working to control world policy and events.