The Coming Battle for the Media: Curbing the Power of the Media Elite

Argues that the broadcast media have a liberal bias, resist any form of criticism, and should be brought under stricter control

Conservative spokesman Rusher, TV commentator and author (The Rise of the Right), here attacks the liberal bias he perceives as dominating the American media, both electronic and print. He cites surveys indicating that newspapers, radio and television staffers tend to favor liberal policies in their own thinking and argues that such personal attitudes are likely to affect selection as well as coverage of the news. He mentions instances when the media have displayed what he sees as strident anticonservatism, and he criticizes, among others, the Supreme Court for broadening the media's First Amendment rights. Rusher argues that conservatives can and must systematically counter this liberal edge by enforcing the Fairness Doctrine, internal and external monitoring, takeovers of liberal or centrist organs and training more conservatives to work in the media. This is a hard-hitting indictment of media mores, sure to be controversial.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is not just another conservative broadside against liberal bias in the news mediait might be the definitive conservative case. By long-time National Review publisher Rusher, it uses vivid examples, interesting statistics, and provocative theories of how bias emerged and what philosophy upholds the bias. Unfortunately, Rusher occasionally forgets that he is advocating balanced presentation and not conservative ascendancy: his descriptions of some historical skirmishes in the ideological wars are decidedly one-sided. Dan Levinson, Thayer Acad., Braintree, Mass.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.