Mainstream Media Liberal Bias? I say not.

As a fore note: I really dislike most radio talk shows. That out of the way, and regardless of the fact, I feel that political radio talk shows are terrible. Unregulated, and very, very biased, you can take almost nothing they say without a grain of salt, or maybe even a whole salt shaker. Using a radio talk show to attempt to keep oneself up to date on current events is like listening to a crowd of cheerleaders gossip about the school geeks: you’re going to get very opinionated, one-sided, and not very accurate information. You may say that not all talk show radio is like this, and you’d be right: sports talk show radio sometimes just goes on about facts. But the sports version of talk show radio isn't what we’re discussing here.

After the dissolution of the Fairness Rule under Ronald Reagan gave rise to such monstrosities as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck: all hyper-conservative, right wing lunatics, who feel they have nothing better to do than blame government for every problem anyone has ever had, and whatever Democrat they are able to for problems that have yet to even really arise. While I may be letting a little bit of liberal bias slip into what I’m saying here, it’s not a lot. Having listened to Sean Hannity repeatedly, I can easily say that half his show is tossing blame around for problems (the target of said blame almost always being President Obama), while the other half is criticizing big government for everything else that is wrong with the country, according to his narrow-minded beliefs. It’s frustrating to listen to, and more frustrating to realize that some people like and believe everything he says.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the proprietor of conservative talk show radio, Rush Limbaugh, is responsible for one of the largest conspiracies to have arisen in the past century: the Mainstream Media’s Liberal Bias that he has made so many people believe exist. He has used this in many situations in order to help justify his, as I have heard quoted, “somewhat extreme views, because he has to make himself heard amidst a sea of liberal opposition.” To this I say: what liberal opposition? It simply does not exist. It is truly hard for me to believe that people are willing to take this kind of affront lying down. I feel that it has gone on for far too long, and that the facts need to be set straight, that this single-sided argument needs to stop, or at least be shown for what it is. I feel that the old Fairness Rule should be brought back, to combat misinformation, and to help produce a more educated society. Isn’t that what a democracy relies on?