Press Bias Quotes

Is journalism a profession that serves the public by maintaining high standards, or is it a social construct that should be redesigned to directly serve certain social goods? Some argue that all journalism involves bias, either hidden or revealed. But it is one thing to say that objectivity and fairness are ultimately unreachable. It is another to cease grasping for them. That would be a world of purely private truths, in which the boldest liars and demagogues would thrive.

The word 'Islam' means 'peace.' The word 'Muslim' means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the press makes us seem like haters.

The press has become the greatest power within the Western countries, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. One would then like to ask: by what law has it been elected and to whom is it responsible?

The press is hostile to the idea of liberty. Most people in the press are for big government. Most people think that the solution to anything, whether it's health care problems, education, whatever it is - it's got to be more government.

I think that in the minds of many, the press is being seen less and less as a neutral observer in the impeachment enterprise and more and more as participants, or even collaborators. On Media's Participation In Watergate

Religion's crucial role in the lives of many people... is rejected out of hand by the political community, especially the press.

I don't take the English press seriously at all because all they want is dirt... I hate them.

The press is largely directed at white society or the so-called electorate whose values are laced with racial prejudice against black people.

There are those who believe a liberal or a conservative bias permeates the media. I don't. The operative press bias is one that favors conflict, not ideology, and it is lashed by a market-driven bias to boost ratings or circulation with more wow stories, more sizzle.

More than illness or death, the American journalist fears standing alone against the whim of his owners or the prejudices of his audience. Deprive William Safire of the insignia of the New York Times, and he would have a hard time selling his truths to a weekly broadsheet in suburban Duluth.

We've always been slammed by most of the British press. They probably hate us because we're too normal and incredibly honest.

You can't get past the liberal press with a bucket of ink.

The media coverage for Donald Trump has been almost cheerleading over the last couple weeks. And I'm convinced it's because many in the press want him to be the nominee.

The press lost credibility with Republicans and independents during the Obama years, setting itself up for the damage that's going to be done during the Trump years.

The first word I would remove from the folklore of journalism is the word objective.

In the West fashionable trends of thought and ideas are carefully separated from those which are not fashionable; nothing is forbidden, but what is not fashionable will hardly ever find its way into periodicals or books or be heard in colleges. Legally your researchers are free, but they are conditioned by the fashion of the day ... a selection dictated by fashion and the need to match mass standards frequently prevents independent-minded people from giving their contribution to public life.

There is a bias in the press for facts over fiction.

The press is dishonest, but the political press is especially dishonest.

We [AP News] had a great reporter in Gaza, a Palestinian who had always been really an excellent reporter. We had a detail in a story – the detail was a crucial one. It was that Hamas fighters were dressed as civilians and were being counted as civilians in the death toll. … The reporter called me a few hours later. It was clear that someone had spoken to him. … He said, Matti, you have to take that detail out of the story and it was clear that someone had threatened him. I took the detail out of the story. I suggested to our editors that we note in an editor's note that we were now complying with Hamas censorship. I was overruled. And from that point in time, the AP, like all of its sister organizations, collaborates with Hamas censorship in Gaza. What does that mean? You'll see a lot of dead civilians and won't see dead militants. You won't have a clear idea of what Hamas military strategy is. And this is the kicker. The center of the coverage will be a number, a casualty number that is provided to the press by something called the Gaza Health Ministry, which is Hamas. … So since 2008, certainly since 2014, when we had another serious war in Gaza, the press has not been covering in Gaza. The press has been essentially an amplifier for one of the most poisonous ideologies on earth. Hamas has figured out how to make the press amplify its messaging rather than covering Hamas.

I don't ban bloggers from my shows. I have a separate line: VIP seating for bloggers.

Journalists, by and large, are not the irascible free thinkers of lore, going their own way without fear or favor. Corporate institutions as a rule have limited use for such people. Especially in today’s electronic environment, journalists are creatures of availability bias, to borrow a term from social science. They believe what others in their milieu believe, say what others are saying, because it’s in their interest to do so.

There's so much cynicism around in Britain, especially in the press. The American press might be naive, but at least you feel as if they're on your side.

The judge is forced for the most part to reach his audience through the medium of the press whose reporting of judicial decisions is all too often inaccurate and superficial.

The bias of the media is neither liberal nor conservative but negative.

I've never got on with the British press because they've always given me such a hard time. Once they build a band up they just want to do people down. They shouldn't concentrate on the colour of someone's shirt they should listen to the music.