The
entertainment establishment-writers, producers and stars of the movies, TV programs
and music we consume-are overwhelmingly liberal in their political outlook.
Not so widely known is that voting patterns of American newspaper reporters
and editors show a similar overwhelming lean to the left. Consider these findings:
- In the 1992 election, 89 percent
of journalists who make up the Washington, D.C., press corps and report
on national political news voted for the liberal candidate, Democrat Bill
Clinton. Only 7 percent voted for the conservative candidate, Republican
George H.W. Bush.
- Of these journalists, 61 percent
saw themselves as "liberal" or "liberal to moderate," while only 9 percent
regarded themselves as "conservative" or "moderate to conservative."
- A poll of 167 newspaper editors
found that, in the 1992 and 1996 elections, 58 and 57 percent, respectively,
voted for Democratic candidate Bill Clinton (compared to 43 and 49 percent
of all other voters).
- A 1996 survey of more than
1,000 reporters at 61 newspapers found that, of those with more than 50,000
circulation (primarily large-city papers), 65 percent of the staff members
were liberal or leaned to the left.
- A 2001 poll of more than 300
media professionals found that those who identified themselves as liberal
outnumbered conservatives four to one.
- A 1980 study of 240 New York
and Washington journalists found that 86 percent never or seldom attended
religious services, and half had no religious affiliation at all.
- Some 90 percent of these journalists
were pro-abortion.
- About 75 percent did not regard
homosexuality as wrong, and 54 percent did not regard adultery as wrong.
Only 15 percent of these journalists "strongly agreed" that adultery, abortion
and homosexual practices were immoral.
(Sources: William Proctor, The
Gospel According to The New York Times, 2000, pp. 44-46; Media Research
Center.) GN