Issue 66 Vol III, June 30, 2008

M E D I A

Media's pro-business bias

Washington based The Center for American Progress recently discovered what has been known for years in America that media has a definite bias while covering business. A report, "Journalists Give Workers Business," finds that "the media ignores ordinary workers and instead covers economic issues from the perspective of business."

The analysis by David Madland, Director of CAP's American Worker Project, looked at newspaper and television coverage of unemployment, minimum wage, trade, and credit card debt issues in 2007 and concluded that "the perspective of workers is largely missing from media coverage, while the views of business are frequently presented." A front page story in Washington Post, for instance, asked why Americans are "gloomier than the economy" but avoided talking to a single worker. The article failed to mention that incomes for most workers have declined since 2001 that health care and retirement benefits have become scarcer and more expensive, and that inequality has risen to unprecedented levels. As the report argues, this type of the coverage is the norm, not the exception. All too often the traditional media prefers "elite sources, such as government or business representatives, over ordinary citizens."

While conservative media critics often claim that the mainstream media has a strong liberal bias, the report suggests that the bias of elite business sources overwhelms any partisan divide. After studying economy-related articles from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, and monitoring the economic news reports on ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, FOX News, and CNBC throughout 2007, the study concludes that "representatives of business were quoted or cited nearly two-and-a-half times as frequently as were workers or their union representatives." Specifically, "in coverage of both the minimum wage and trade, the views of businesses were sourced more than one-and-a-half times as frequently as those of workers." In stories about employment, "businesses were quoted or cited over six times as frequently as were workers," according to the report.

In fact, only in coverage of credit card debt "was coverage more balanced, presenting the perspectives of ordinary citizens in the proportion as those of business," suggesting that the media "can find out how complex economic issues will impact ordinary people and present the news from their perspective."

BIAS MATTERS
The report notes, "our belief in democratic debate demands informed citizens and requires that different points of view are allowed to be heard." An April 7, 2007 article in the New York Times, however, undermined this ideal. In fact, the story, which discussed "whether the job market is strong," sourced economists representing business and advocacy groups, but did not offer the worker's perspective. This type of coverage "is repeated again and again," artificially narrowing the spectrum of debate and misinforming policy makers and the general public of alternate viewpoints. Moreover, the media "has the ability to help determine which issues people think are important" and "can even influence how people vote." Madland notes, for example, that "studies have found that as Fox News expanded into new towns, these areas were increasingly likely to vote for Republican candidates," while viewers of ABC News were "influenced to vote for Ronald Reagan over Walter Mondale because Peter Jennings used more positive facial cues when talking about the president than he did about the challenger."

WHY BIAS OCCURS
Madland argues that "the most common explanation for the kind of bias is that journalists have a preference for elite sources" because it is "easier  for a reporter to talk to a professional, such as a business spokesperson, than to find a good quote from a worker or ordinary citizen." To that end, a June 26, 2007 article in the Wall Street Journal about the need for the nation's largest financial service companies to "defuse protectionist sentiment in the United States and promote free-trade agreements" mentions that such agreements would meet "stiff resistance from organized labor," but it does not ask labor to explain its opposition. In addition, the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) notes that "mergers in the news industry have accelerated" the growth of large news conglomerates, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media and undermining journalistic standards. Whatever the source of the bias, Madland's study suggests that the media are capable of providing much more balanced coverage of economic issues.

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IPS has new Chairman

THE IPS International Association has chosen Federico Mayor as new chair of its Board of Directors. He replaces Mario Soares, former President of Portugal (1986-1996), who has been guiding the IPS Board since 2002.

IPS also elected its Board of Trustees, which includes two former U.N. secretaries general, Kofi Annan and Boutros Boutros-Ghali; two former presidents, Mario Soares (Portugal) and Martti Ahtisaari (Finland); two former prime ministers, Toshiki Kaifu (Japan) and Inder Kumar Gujral (India); and IPS founder Roberto Savio.

Federico Mayor, born in Spain in 1934, served as Director General of the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) from 1987 to 1999.

Mayor was earlier a member of the Spanish Parliament (1977-1978), Minister for Education and Science (1981-1982) and member of the European Parliament (1987).

After deciding not to run for a third term at UNESCO, he returned to Spain in 1999 to create the Foundation for a Culture of Peace. In 2005, the United Nations Secretary-General designated Mayor as Co-President of the High Level Group for the Alliance of Civilisations.

He is also member of the Honorary Board of the International Coalition for the Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence.

Mayor, who has worked on peace-related issues for more than 30 years, says the role of a news agency such as IPS in promoting peace is "essential, because the media power today is enormous, and we receive much partial and biased information.

"It is time for action and change, and to transform reality we must know reality in-depth," he told IPS.

During his 12 years as head of UNESCO, Mayor's work focused on the promotion of peace, tolerance, human rights and peaceful coexistence. Under his guidance, UNESCO created the Culture of Peace programme aimed at education for peace; human rights and democracy; the fight against isolation and poverty; the defence of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue; and conflict prevention and the consolidation of peace.

Access to independent information can make a strong contribution to handling the world's conflicts, he said. "It has been misleading information that has led to war and invasions such as the one of Iraq.

"The present crisis shows how far unrestricted freedom of expression and media pluralism are crucial to overcome the present situations, particularly the food crisis, and start the process for the other possible world of which we dream," Mayor said.

As new chair of the IPS Board of Directors, he said he will aim "to follow exactly the objectives of IPS, which are transparency, accuracy and farsightedness."

The recent triennial election of the IPS International Association appointed Mario Lubetkin Director General of IPS for a third term. A Uruguay born journalist, Lubetkin has served as correspondent for several Italian and Latin American print media, and as communications adviser for various U.N. agencies and regional integration organisations in Latin America.

"The key challenge before IPS today is to strengthen its role as a leading news agency covering all development and civil society issues. But our aim is also to get deeper analysis of globalisation's impact, particularly from the South perspective," Lubetkin said.

The IPS International Association also elected a new 16-member Board of Directors, with a geographical and gender balance. The Board includes journalists, academics, communications experts, and specialists in international cooperation. [IPS]

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