At the AIM conference in September, “ObamaNation: A Day of Truth,” attendees heard from Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) on the subject of media bias. Smith is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and the founder and head of Congress’s Media Fairness Caucus.
Rep. Smith reminded the conference, “Our national media should be held accountable just like every other institution.” In holding the media accountable, Rep. Smith emphasized, “We need to remind the media of their profound obligation to provide the American people with the facts, not tell them what to think.”
He cited several studies supporting the view that the media need constant reminding of their duty to inform, not persuade. In 2008 Investor’s Business Daily noted, “the amount of money journalists contributed in the last Presidential election cycle favored Democrats over Republicans by a fifteen-to-one ratio.” And other examples of media bias are plentiful when comparing economic “news” today with similar coverage during Republican administrations.
During the Q&A portion of his speech, Rep. Smith explained an easy test to detect media bias: “Ask yourself this question—and this is a question that I hope the American people will ask themselves more often. This is a good way to gauge whether the media is biased or not. The question is this: Would the media treat Republicans and Democrats the same way?”
You can watch the highlights of Rep. Lamar Smith’s speech here:
Watch Rep. Lamar Smith’s full speech below, or watch it with the transcript here:
