What Liberal Media?

I’ve been pointing this out for literally decades, but when GOP is in charge TV bookers justify GOP-heavy guest lists by saying they’re in charge; when Dems are in charge, bookers justify GOP-heavy guest lists by saying they gotta show the opposition. https://t.co/7pnXc0wLQJ

— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) September 19, 2021

The idea of a liberal mainstream media is a myth. But don't take my word for it:

There is some strategy to it [bashing the "liberal" media] . . . . If you watch any great coach, what they try to do is "work the refs". Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack on the next one.

Rich Bond, Deputy Chief of Staff to Vice President George H.W. Bush, several positions
for the Republican National Committee under Presidents Ford, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush,
Chairman of the Republican Party (1992-1993) (Washington Post, August 20, 1992, page C1)

There were days and times and events we might have had some complaints [but] on balance I don't think we had anything to complain about.

James Baker, White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Treasury under
President Reagan, and White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of State under
President George H.W. Bush (On Bended Knee: The Press and the
Reagan Presidency, by Mark Hertsgaard (1998), page 4)

I've gotten balanced coverage, and broad coverage – all we could have asked. For heaven sakes, we kid about the "liberal media", but every Republican on earth does that.

Patrick Buchanan, White House Communications Director under President Reagan,
assistant and special consultant to Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, Republican
presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996, Reform Party presidential candidate in 2000,
and an original host of CNN's Crossfire (Interview with Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1996)

I admit it. The liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was often used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures.

William Kristol, Chief of Staff to Vice President Quayle, founder and editor-at-large
of The Weekly Standard, current editor-at-large of The Bulwark, founder and
director of Defending Democracy Together, associated with several conservative
think tanks, New Citizenship Project (Chairman, 1997-2005) and the Project for
the New American Century (Co-founder) (The New Yorker, May 22, 1995)