Fox News Watch panelist and media watchdog Jeff Cohen speaks to onlookers at the Central Presbyterian Church in Eugene Monday.
Media watchdog Jeff Cohen spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 media-concerned onlookers at the Central Presbyterian Church in Eugene on Monday night. The creator of FAIR Magazine spoke of the conservative bias in the media today and how media consolidation is influencing journalists.
In an hour and a half speech, “The Myth of the Liberal Media,” Cohen debunked a widespread belief among Americans that the media are too liberal. This belief persists, Cohen said, because consumers are uneducated as to what is considered liberal.
“What Americans most call liberal media is actually libertine media,” he said. “If we had a liberal, left-wing media we would be hearing much more about the military. There would be intense coverage of the military. Complaints of liberal media are brought upon by sleazy content.”
This “sleazy content” is a by-product of important stories never being produced, Cohen said. Media conglomerates run many news outlets and they control what is shown and what is not. Cohen claimed that important stories are often buried or ignored because they involve companies that pay for the shows to be produced.
Cohen said only six corporations control the mass media. Media consolidation is even encouraged within the media.
“Journalists now engage in self-censorship,” he said. “They don’t even bring up stories for fear of losing their jobs.”
Money is often an important factor when deciding what stories are to be used, according to Cohen. Corporations run stories that will get the most attention but are not necessarily the most important or newsworthy, he said.
“There are two paths to ratings. American people are not allowed to hear serious news. They’ve never been given this alternative,” he said.
Journalists may not report on a controversial story because they could easily be labeled as liberal, according to Cohen. Often times, management often will not defend their writers, he said.
David Zupan, member of the Eugene Media Action Organization, agreed with the speaker.
“The problem is that there is a concentration in the media today. There is a tendency for a lack of diversity,” he said.
Consumers can combat the problems that face the media by becoming proactive, Zupan said.
All citizens have the responsibility “to respond to what they like and don’t like,” he said. “They can have a very powerful effect if they let the media know what they are watching.”
University students are powerful components in the battle against media misuse, said junior Nate Corbell.
“As consumers of news, be skeptical — not cynical — when viewing or reading the daily news,” Corbell said. “We need more young people to come out.”