Truth or lack of it

The problem with the media is more basic than anything Reed Johnson mentions (“Trashing the Media,” Jan. 11). There is simply no commitment to the truth. Instead, there’s a commitment to a liberal agenda and a fundamental dishonesty by people in the business, who then dishonestly deny they have a liberal bias.

His story is a clear example. He glaringly fails to mention the L.A. Times’ politically motivated hatchet job on Arnold Schwarzenegger in the last days before his election.

The problem isn’t “polarization, corporatization or tabloidization.” You guys just don’t tell the truth. It’s that simple.

Mark Bedor

South Pasadena

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Interesting piece by Reed Johnson about criticism of American media. It reminded me that the scariest thing about this year’s presidential campaign and election is not Dubya or Dr. Dean but the media themselves -- will they do their job?

Johnson’s piece caught my attention because I had just attended a New York Times panel presentation that featured Tucker Carlson, Eric Alterman and Al Franken debating whether the media is biased. Franken continued the message he brings out in his brilliant book (“Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right”): The real bias is the bias toward the simple and cheap. In other words, the mainstream media are liberally biased but the real challenge is whether they’ll spend more space on the Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant trials or on an in-depth look at how we got into Iraq.

Both Carlson and Franken pointed out that, indeed, the great majority of American journalists are pro-choice and rarely go to church on Sundays, but so what. The problem is when these “liberal” journalists are cowed by the White House, or are just plain lazy.

Carlson even brought up the thought of having a British type of media environment in the U.S. -- where London’s daily newspapers are open about their political bias. I think such an idea warrants some serious consideration because I think it is what makes the British news media quite reliable. Once everyone gets over the inherent bias, the real task is getting the story right (remember that Tony Blair has survived intense media scrutiny that Dubya has never had to endure).

Manny Gonzalez

New York