The Center for Public Integrity analyzed the political contributions of journalists in the 2016 cycle and discovered that more than 96 percent of those gifts went to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“People identified in federal campaign finance filings as journalists, reporters, news editors or television news anchors — as well as other donors known to be working in journalism — have combined to give more than $396,000 to the presidential campaigns of Clinton and Trump,” the center reported Monday. “Nearly all of that money — more than 96 percent — has benefited Clinton.”
“About 430 people who work in journalism have, through August, combined to give about $382,000 to the Democratic nominee,” the report explained. Only about 50 identifiable journalists have combined to give roughly $14,000 to Donald Trump.
The report excluded talk radio personalities, paid TV pundits, and the like, such as former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
This skew in Clinton’s favor might help explain the disproportionate negative coverage Trump has received in the mainstream media. Granted, the Republican nominee’s comments about women were genuinely offensive, but so are many of the bombshells revealed by WikiLeaks from inside the Clinton campaign (especially offensive to Catholics).
Furthermore, the Project Veritas videos have already pushed key Democratic operatives out of the Clinton campaign. While major media outlets have largely ignored the story (Democrats confessing to long-term voter fraud and to orchestrating violence at Trump rallies), the videos are trending on YouTube.
Naturally, the WikiLeaks emails have revealed journalists working in tandem with the Clinton campaign, running stories past campaign officials, giving Clinton advice, rooting for her, and attending campaign dinner parties. This led Townhall’s Derek Hunter to say that the campaign is “rigged” — not by voter fraud, but by selective media bias.
“If there’s one thing this election cycle has exposed it’s just how symbiotic the relationship between the Democratic Party and the media is,” Hunter argued. “Newspapers might as well run Democratic press releases with reporters’ bylines at this point.”
Next Page: Why the media is so liberal (It’s not as simple as Hunter suggests).
I wouldn’t go that far — I do think much of the bias comes from how secular progressives view the world, rather than from a conscious desire to promote Democrats over Republicans.
If you honestly view the LGBT community as under attack, and religious conservatives as bigots, for example, you will write stories about social issues in a certain way. If you see the government’s job as helping the less fortunate, and honestly believe more government intervention helps the economy, you will tend to brush aside the concerns of economic conservatives. If you see racism in police departments, you will be more likely to write positive stories about Black Lives Matter.
Liberal journalists do not necessarily think, “what does the Democrat Party support? Ok, I’ll write a glowing story.” They think, “This is a legitimate issue, and Democrats are addressing it.”
Media bias is actually more ingrained than many conservatives think. It isn’t necessarily because journalists are bought off, but because they actually think a lot more like Democrats than like Republicans. Many of them really do believe in Hillary Clinton, no matter how corrupt she is.
Like the Republicans backing Donald Trump, these liberals are willing to overlook scandals in order to get a president who sees things they way they do. The difference is, they have a much bigger platform.
It’s too early to be sure whether such bias can win Clinton the election, but it certainly gives her a leg up. Her poll numbers are much stronger than Trump’s, and the constant media coverage of Trump’s sexual indiscretions (while neglecting Clinton’s role in her husband’s worse scandals) is one of the main reasons for that.
I’m no fan of Donald Trump, but it is important to acknowledge that he’s facing a hostile press which glibly passes over the worst stories about his opponent. The fact that 96 percent of media contributions went to Clinton does not necessarily suggest pay-for-play. What it does suggest is that the majority of journalists support Hillary Clinton, which to be honest, shouldn’t be news to anyone.
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