Article May 18, 1998 Issue

A SHOW BIZ BIAS IN THE NEWS

Alexandra Marks

Andrew Heyward, president of CBS News, sees the media's bias more in terms of the structural needs and limitations of the press [than liberal versus conservative views]. Television, in particular, tends to favor stories about conflict, good and evil.

"It's easier to focus on a human being caught in some sort of a jam," Mr. Heyward says. "I'm not sure we always take the time to do the analysis or get the other point of view because we're in search of the 'grabber' or 'good story.'"

For instance, it's much easier to focus on someone who believes he was cheated by his insurance company than to do a rigorous analysis of the amount of fraud perpetrated on insurance companies and the actuarial pressures they face in order to make a profit.

"Instead, you see a person huddling out in the cold," Heyward says. "That presents as a kind of liberal bias, when in fact it's not a political bias, it's a kind of show biz bias."

Alexandra Marks
Excerpted from
The Christian Science Monitor
June 27, 1997