Is the media biased?

And a focus on issues rather than political parties would help researchers make better historical comparisons as certain issues gain or lose public and media attention. For example, it was the media that played a major role in challenging the protectionist industry orthodoxy of the day from the early 1970s to help shape public opinion as many on both sides of politics resisted change.

Certainly measuring bias on an issue-by-issue basis is likely to be more insightful than whether Labor or the Coalition is favoured by the media, as attempted by Gans and Leigh. With an examination of key issues, I could not imagine The Australian in recent times being deemed centrist on issues over whether Australia should abandon freer trade or support greater government ownership, although research may prove otherwise. Nor could I imagine The Age being anything less than biased towards the left. As Gerard Henderson recently observed, in the opinion/comment pages of The Age there were three left of centre critiques of the Rudd Labor Government on August 31 alone, including Dr Lindy Edward’s re-regulate or perish line, and the CFMEU union boss John Sutton criticising recent governments and employers on immigration (Gerard Henderson, Media Watchdog Issue No. 26).

As we may be entering a period where greater public divide emerges over key issues such as trade, wages, and taxes if economic turmoil persists in the western world, it could be an interesting time to examine media bias in regards to key issues.

To conclude, we are fortunate to live in a free society where an abundance of information is provided by television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet. But in the end, measuring media bias on an issue by issue basis is more likely a better way to go if such a question is to justify the allocation of important public resources.