(This was originally published yesterday morning but due a technical glitch only part of this post was shown. So we’re reposting this MUST READ post today.)
This morning I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Craig Crawford, author of the recently released book Attack the Messenger: How Politicians Turn You against the Media. Crawford, a columnist for Congressional Quarterly, appears frequently as a political analyst on MSNBC programs such as “Countdown with Keith Olbermann”, CBS’ “The Early Show”, and “Imus in the Morning”. Previously, Crawford ran National Journal‘s The Hotline and was a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel. Crawford also maintains a very interesting blog, Crawford’s List.
Jonathan Singer: You’ve been covering politics for quite some time. Do you get the sense that you and your fellow reporters have become more biased over the past few years? Or is it that there has been a more concerted effort by people on the right and left, be they politicians or activists, to call bias on your part?
Craig Crawford: I don’t think there’s any more bias than there’s ever been. It’s just been talked about a lot more and outed to an extent that it’s never been.
Singer: Do you think there is an inherent bias? Or is it just an attempt to send new messages to activists on the right and left?
Crawford: I think it’s human nature to have bias. Anybody who cares about a political system is going to have an opinion. The issue is whether that bias creeps into what’s labeled as objective reporting.
I don’t think bias is in objective reporting anywhere near the extent that people think. But it has become a classic tool in the toolbox of politicians to accuse reporters of bias when unfavorable stories are done about them.
the interview continues here, with analysis of the media and Campaign 2006…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.