MediaWatch: June 1992
Table of Contents:
Study Finds Liberal Bias
CPB Exposed
By law, the corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is required to insure balance in all "programming of a controversial nature," but CPB refused to undergo a study of its content. A study released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) shows why: there is no balance on PBS.
CMPA studied every documentary on Washington PBS affiliate WETA from April 1987 to March 1988, and found a pronounced liberal slant. For example, 4 of 6 sources opposed America's participation in a nuclear arms race; 3 out of 5 sources argued that the environment must be protected before human needs; racial discrimination was described as a condition of American society 50 times without one dissenting opinion; 92 percent of sources on gender relations said society discriminates against women.
On health issues, 8 out of 9 sources gave the medical profession a vote of no confidence, arguing that medicine places its own interests above patient care. While the Cold War raged on, friends and allies of the U.S. were criticized more than four times as often as enemies or unfriendly nations. No wonder CPB wants no scrutiny.
When Senate Republicans asked for a debate on CPB funding, PBS-loving TV critics went wild. On May 21, Washington Post critic Tom Shales decried "the new coalitions of right-wingers joined together to wage an insane war against public television." He also called it a "virulent campaign" and a "perverse conspiracy." On May 12, Boston Globe critic Ed Siegel wrote that the Senate "could use someone like Joseph Welch to turn to PBS' current critics and repeat his answer to Joseph McCarthy's charges: 'Have you no shame'?"
