In 1962, Richard Nixon conceded defeat in his race for California governor, bitterly telling reporters that the press “wouldn?t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.” In the decades since, the belief that the media is a covert ? and in some cases overt ? advocate of liberal ideology has become deeply ingrained in the conservative consciousness. Right-wing bloggers and talk radio personalities regularly depict mainstream reporters as members of an elite leftist clique, dogged in their determination to bring down Republicans and unwilling to challenge Democrats.
James Baughman, a UW-Madison professor of journalism, says he often struggles to convince conservatives that traditional media reporters are not bent on promoting a political viewpoint.”A lot of them really refuse to believe that reporters can be objective,” he says.