American journalism sounds much more Democratic than Republican
Public trust in American media has declined since the 1990s. The decline is mainly among conservatives, who believe that non-partisan outlets have a liberal bias. Assessing these claims objectively is challenging, as stories that one party sees as factual, the other party may view as ideological.
To determine news sources’ partisan leanings, most public estimates rely on subjective ratings. However, political scientists have taken a more objective approach by analyzing the language used in politicians’ speeches as a baseline for comparison. Nevertheless, these studies often focus on a period before 2016, do not differentiate between politics and other topics, and concentrate on either TV or written journalism, but not both.
To provide a comprehensive, impartial, and up-to-date measure of partisan slant, we have applied this academic approach to recent output from a wide range of news sources. Our findings indicate an affinity between the media and the left, as journalists tend to favor the language used by Democratic lawmakers. Furthermore, this disparity has increased since Donald Trump’s presidency began, resulting in a decrease in the number of media sources that cover politics in a balanced manner.
2023-12-14 04:31:02
Link from www.economist.com
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