A friend of mine and I...

have been having an on going discussion about the MSM bias. We both agree that it does exist. What we do have differing opinions on is how the bottom line effects how they report the news. He thinks that money will trump all. When their bottom line is being decimated the big wigs will come around make some changes.

I don't agree.

The New York Times is selling this morning for $9.00. In 2002, it was selling for $50.00. GE who owns NBC and MSNBC is selling @ $21 down from nearly $60.

Newspaper circulation is one key measure of public reaction. The top 25 newspapers distributed nearly 18 million papers in 1998. Ten years later, they have lost nearly 4 million paid readers – a 22 percent decline.

Just last week, the Washington Post Co. reported “an 86 percent decline in third-quarter earnings,” and newspaper layoffs are now as common as pictures of Obama with a halo.

Gannett, the publisher of 85 dailies, including USA Today, and 900 other publications, is reportedly laying off 10 percent of its newspaper employees. That’s up to 3,000 workers. The Christian Science Monitor is killing its weekday print edition as of April. And Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore said that company is facing an advertising ‘depression.”

Are these the actions of an industry worried about their bottom line?

They could fix this debacle with one easy solution. Throw some objectivity into the mix.

A quick glance at the 2008 election coverage underscores the obvious disconnect between liberal journalists and their readers. Since journalists love polls, let’s look at some other results. “Voters overwhelmingly believe that the media wants Barack Obama to win the presidential election,” according to Pew. The survey found that by nearly 8-to-1, respondents thought the media had chosen Obama.

That was the common result. A Rasmussen Reports survey said by a 10-to-1 margin the public believe the media are trying to hurt Sarah Palin. Another Rasmussen poll said voters believe the media “are trying to help Barack Obama” – that by a 5-to-1 margin. A Fox News poll discovered six times as many voters think "most members of the media" want Obama to win.

The news media are uniformly behind the Obama candidacy. The latest newspaper endorsement tally by Editor & Publisher shows “Obama in a landslide,” netting 240 endorsements to McCain’s 114. All 57 alternative weeklies also are backing Obama.

E&P even tallies a tidal wave of support for Obama in college papers – 79 to just one for McCain. And that leaves out the almost constant stream of biased news coverage that preceded those endorsements.

So, the MSM can do one of two things. Start to print papers that people actually want to read or suck up to the next administration in hopes of getting a little of the next $700 billion bailout of industries affected so hard by the Bush economy.

Which way do you think they'll go?