Shedding the media bias tag

It happens to me every year, and it's happened since I got into this business. I'll be at a dinner party, or some other gathering, and be introduced to someone I don't know. Then the inevitable, "What do you do for a living?" question comes up. And my answer is almost always followed with something along the lines of, "Ah, a member of the liberal news media."

Now I'm never going to tell you where my political sentiments lie. I will tell you I've voted for Republicans and Democrats and even Independents. I was always taught to "vote for the candidate, not the party." I have good friends who are ultra conservative and some who are very liberal. So call me an Independent. Maybe it is because I was born in the same town as Joe Lieberman. I was even exposed to women in politics as a child, as my Aunt was an elected official, and this was a time when there were almost no women in politics.

Anyway, I always have to "defend" myself against the biased tag. No reporter wants the label, though this year it seems that a lot of them don't mind.

You'll run into this too, and probably moreso this year than any other.

The reason this happens is that very often people cannot differentiate between local and national news. I was always amazed to receive calls for the network anchor at the local affiliate, and this happened at every station in which I worked.

So when people call me biased, I tell them to consider that the national news comes primarily from three very liberal cities. New York, LA and Washington. And that certain networks are targeting certain demographic groups. That doesn't necessarily mean the local reporters feel the same way.

When I worked in New York a lot of the people in the newsroom slanted left. When I worked in the South, the newsroom was pretty conservative.

You may be the most objective reporter in the country, but you may still have to explain yourself. And that might mean explaining how the business works.

Of course, it's a lot easier if your reporting has been fair and balanced.