last updated 9/8/2011

Michael Robinson's 5 Myths of the Press

1. The press is investigative --- actually less than 10% of the time do they investigate

2. The press is adversarial --- not often because there's too much cooperation between sources and reporters (for mutual advantage), etc .

3. The press is liberal --- personally reporters and editiors in mainsteream media are fairly liberal quite often but not so much in their reporting of hard news. (This is changing in newer media.)

   • elites may be liberal, but reporters try to be fair usually

   • There is no observed effect on news coverage of candidates

4. Media decides the political agenda -- not really.  Media may get us to focus on specific issues but doesn't seem to be effective at telling people what they should think about those issues.

   • but how individuals use media and who uses media may set agendas in society and politics

5. The press behaves seriously -- not really.  Entertainment and $(profits) are the key issues for those who make decisions for large media.