Pushing Back the Liberal Media Bias
- Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 1:02
- Iowa, News Center
- 673 views
- 14 comments
One doesn’t have to look far to realize that that the newspaper industry is going through some tough times. Last week, Gazette Communications, which includes the Cedar Rapids Gazette, announced that it would trim a sixth of its workforce, reducing its staff by 100 workers.
This past December, the Des Moines Register also reduced staff and required its workers to take a one-week furlough. Included in the Register’s cuts was long time political cartoonist Brian Duffy. David Yepsen, the Register’s chief political correspondent, also leaves this month for a new job as the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.
All of these cuts will have an impact on how and where Iowans get their news. There is a debate taking place regarding what direction the newspaper industry needs to go in order to survive. One proposal is to only offer print editions on the weekends. Other options include charging a subscription to view online content. Perhaps the most disturbing option on the table is having a newspaper be funded by private foundations.
No matter what direction newspapers take, the end result is very troubling. Either the public will be less informed about what is going on locally, or the newspapers will reflect and advance the agenda of the foundations that support it.
Iowa already has an organization which is set up on the foundation model: the IowaIndependent.com. Iowa Independent is a project of the Center for Independent Media, but there is nothing independent about the foundations that fund the site. One contributor to the Iowa Independent is the Gill Foundation. If that name sounds familiar to you, it should.
Tim Gill is a Colorado gay-rights activist who targeted State Representative Danny Carroll in 2006. Gill funneled thousands of dollars to Carroll’s opponent, Eric Palmer. Carroll was defeated, but Gill is still a major contributor to the Iowa Democrat Party and Democrat legislative leaders. Another group that funds Iowa Independent is the Service Employees International Union, a politically aggressive labor group.
The idea of the newspaper industry being funded by foundations is a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately, many newspapers already have a political bias. In the early days of the industry, it was very common to see the words “democrat” or “republican” associated with the name of the newspaper. In Iowa, the Quad-City Times was once called the Davenport Democrat, and the Marshalltown newspaper is still called the Times-Republican.
Most newspapers these days don’t have a name indicates their bias. The Des Moines Register has never had a name that indicated a bias, but it is widely known for its liberal views. In determining a name for this site, I decided that it was important for the name to clearly identify who the target audience is, while also communicating the viewpoint of the people who are writing the articles.
Some critics have already claimed that this site will be simply a mouthpiece for the Republican Party. That is not the case. This site will be the mouthpiece of the hundreds of thousands of Iowans who identify themselves as Iowa Republicans. There is a big difference between the two.
The Iowa Republican will counter the liberal bias that already exists in some newspapers in Iowa. If our existing newspapers offered fair and balanced coverage, a site like The Iowa Republican would not be needed. But, it is needed, and now it is here. We look forward to providing Iowa Republicans with the news they deserve.
About the Author
Craig Robinson has written 502 stories on this site.
Craig Robinson serves as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com. Prior to founding Iowa's largest conservative news site, Robinson served as the Political Director of the Republican Party of Iowa during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. In that capacity, Robinson planned and organized the largest political event in 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa. Robinson also organized the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa, and was later dispatched to Nevada to help with the caucuses there. Robinson cut his teeth in Iowa politics during the 2000 caucus campaign of businessman Steve Forbes and has been involved with most major campaigns in the state since then. His extensive political background and rolodex give him a unique perspective from which to monitor the political pulse of Iowa.
14 Comments on “Pushing Back the Liberal Media Bias”
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Sounds like a ghetto to me: News FOR Repubs, BY Repubs! You will quickly become part of the problem of biased journalism with that motto.
I think it’s actually spelled getout, as in GET OUT if you don’t like the content.
“biased journalism” – what reporting isn’t biased? you can’t remove bias altogether in any journalism, nor should you.
This site is a joke, and your jabs at the Iowa Independent are an even bigger joke. (and before you say it, no, I don’t work for them and yes I am a Republican)
You cannot be taken seriously when you allow anonymous troglodyte bloggers to carry water for you. It’s a continuing saga in the conservative blogs as they cling to their pen names so they can continue to spew venom.
This place had real potential. You’re frittering it all away.
Republicans love to beat the drum of “liberal media bias.” But then a study comes out showing network television news actually had a REPUBLICAN bias and you hear nothing.
It’s tired, GOP. It’s tired and boring. You fall back on that tired cliche of media bias so you don’t have to do something tough, like, oh I don’t know, come up with ideas that matter to anyone.
The Register isn’t biased against you (it’s editorial pages are more liberal, but suck is life). The world is not out to get you. You simply are not relevant.
I think people have the right to know that Iowa Independent is funded by the guy who is trying to force gay marriage into effect in Iowa (when he doesn’t even live here).
That is the whole point of this. We need to know and really understand where our news is coming from and the perspective of the people providing it. I’m thankful that I now have another source I can look to in drawing my own conclusions on issues.
So how can you “really understand where our news is coming from” when people don’t put their name next to their words?
A blog is a blog. I take anything I read on a blog with a grain of salt. I like to read them, mostly for entertainment. This site looks to be about a lot more than just blogs. So far, I think the other Iowa news stories are very interesting. And I know who they are written by, so that doesn’t bother me.
I’m much more likely to trust the Iowa Republican who is honest about being republican than the Iowa Independent, who based on their contributors, isn’t really independent at all.
People do love getting their own beliefs reaffirmed rather than being faced with objectivity that may challenge them.
No matter how up front Mr. Robinson is, anonymity taints the site and it’s credibility. Allowing them to contribute to the site was and is a mistake.
Dear Grateful Winger,
I posted the first comment on this article but I’m changing my handle to EchoBuster, so I can be better remembered and so you can see my purpose.
Why are you telling us to get out if we disagree with your content? Do you want accurate news or do you want an echo chamber? I hope to bust up the echo chamber with my comments.
BTW, I agree with Scott’s first comment above. I know where my news comes from(mostly the WSJ, NPR, and TPM). Three good sources in their separate ways.
Mr. Tanner,
Mr. Robinson has made it very clear that this site is meant for Republican views and news. The Iowa Independent is hardly independent at all considering all of their contributors are far left wing writers .
Steve Right… What “study” are you referring to? Let’s see here..The New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, the Politico, etc etc… Which one of those mainstream media outlets is “Republican”?
If you want to talk relevancy…the Des Moines Register is anything BUT relevant. Considering they’ve lost much of their readership, been forced to cut positions and furlough others–I would hardly call the DSM Register a quality newspaper anymore
http://homepages.indiana.edu/web/page/normal/10085.html
Take a look, let me know what you think. You’ll be enlightened.
And what difference do donations make? No body seems to be all that worried about for profit papers/stations being influenced by their advertisers. This seems like just another straw man set up by conservatives.
Who the hell cares about bias? There is bias. Both ways. Everywhere.
Turn on your own personal b.s.-meter, and hope that everyone else does the same.
I am sick of hearing about bias. Dead issue. Dumb issue. Whiny issue.
Mike C — Preach on.