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Media Report

Confusion about media bias

by Arthur Weinreb

November 17, 2003

About two weeks ago, Standard Broadcasting that owns three Toronto radio stations including the flagship station, CFRB, did something that the company had not done since 1985--they endorsed a candidate for political office. While clearly stating that it was their "opinion", Standard ran an editorial endorsing John Tory who was running for mayor of Toronto.

As election day drew near, the race for mayor became a close two-way one with Tory, and the eventual successful candidate, David Miller, offering two very different approaches and visions for the direction that Canada’s largest city should take. And with five credible candidates, many have said that this was the most important Toronto election in the past 30 years. This seemed all the more reason that the owners and management of Standard Broadcasting would want to air their views.

Whether or not it is appropriate for a radio station to broadcast their political point of view became a topic of Michael Coren’s call-in show on CFRB after the Tory endorsement was first aired. What many callers had to say was revealing.

A significant number of the callers expressed the view that it was simply wrong for a radio station to express its opinion, even when the opinion is clearly labelled as such. What was even more surprising was that a number of these callers said that the station should not have broadcast their endorsement even though they thought it was okay for newspapers to give their opinions in their editorials and op-ed pages. The calls continued along this vein even after Coren explained that CFRB is a talk radio station, where hosts are always giving their opinions on various matters.

Perhaps the terminology that is being used is confusing to some people. Since the release of Bernard Goldberg’s Bias in early 2002, media bias in the mainstream media has become a hot topic of discussion, especially south of the border. Goldberg, a former CBS reporter caused quite a stir with his allegations that his former employer had a definite left wing bias. The confusion results from the fact that the term "media bias" is used when what is really meant is "news bias". There is nothing inherently wrong with television shows such as The West Wing being slanted. Nor is the fact that talk show hosts express their personal biased opinions, wrong. It’s only the news that should be objective, balanced and fair. It was almost as if many of the callers to Coren’s program didn’t know that talk show hosts (as well as the management of the station) can express their personal opinions.

In answer to Bernard Goldberg’s accusations, American journalist Eric Aterman came out with a book entitled, "What Liberal Media? arguing that most of the American media was conservative. Aterman wrote about how conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh now dominate American talk radio. But comparing Rush Limbaugh to the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather is comparing apples to oranges. Limbaugh and his fellow talk show hosts don’t purport to broadcast "news". They are voicing their opinions, a distinction that seemed to be lost on Aterman.

Why is it that callers, many of whom are probably regular talk show listeners, feel the need for everything to be objective and impartial? The simple answer that this is Canada. CFRB radio hosts usually describe the station as being to the right of centre but not as right wing as it used to be. Most hosts seem to be impartial because they take positions in the Liberal held mushy middle where most Canadians like to be. For example, one host who is slightly to the right and supported John Tory for mayor before the municipal elections, simply gushed over NDP mayor-elect David Miller, no doubt in an attempt to ingratiate himself with Toronto’s new chief magistrate. This is too bad because as informative as talk shows can be, most people tune in to them to be entertained. The more drastic positions that hosts take, the more entertaining and thought provoking the program can be. Unfortunately, Canadian talk radio is so mellow and middle of the road that many listeners think that it is, and has to be, balanced and fair. That’s the only reason that explains the many callers assertions that radio stations should not express editorial opinions.

Only in Canada. Pity.