By Richard J. Rosendall

First published August 28, 2008 in Bay Windows

Some forms of media bias I can appreciate. For example, someone at The Washington Post got carried away in the Aug. 21 issue with color photos of Jamaican sprinting champion Usain Bolt, which grace the front page, the cover of the sports section, and two inside pages. A straight co-worker of mine reacted to a sumptuous crotch-and-abs shot inside the sports section by laughing and saying, “Now that one is just gratuitous pandering.” Thank goodness for that.

A lot of media bias falls into this eyes-of-the-beholder category. Subjective judgments inevitably feed decisions on which stories to run, what to emphasize, what angle to take, whom to quote. It is more problematic when journalists, perhaps due to excessive chumminess with the political establishment, develop a herd instinct and ignore stories that conflict with prevailing narratives.

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