On a related note, I think people often confuse news reporting with opinion segments when they think about media bias. I would guess that most people understand, intellectually, that the editorial page of the newspaper is separate from the news pages, and that different staffers write for each section. But, on an emotional level, it seems, people assume bias in the news pages based, in part, on the positions they read in the editorial pages. The confusion is even worse on TV. When the same guy who anchors a cable news show – which is supposed to be more or less objective – then turns to the camera to deliver a nightly rant, it’s hard for the viewer to trust that the straight news was really straight.

JODI CLEESATTLE

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