The Numbers Just Don't Lie

I find it interesting all the complaining over the Bush administration’s term in office of the so called "left" or "liberal" media, which any educated person knows does not exist. But, aside from that, and without arguing the merits of such ridiculous statements, let’s just take a step back and examine the breadth of influence of the news media, in general.

When you take into consideration the population of the United States, which according to the 2008 census is around 305 million people, the news organizations, television (network and cable) combined, along with the top print news groups, account for circulation and/or viewership of roughly 30 million (NBC-7.5 million; ABC-7.3 million; CBS-5.6 million; FOX-2 million; CNN 2.1 million; MSNBC-1.2 million; HCN (hispanic communication network)-395,000; CNBC, 274,000; WSJ-2 million; NYT-1 million; LAT-815,000; W.Post-635,000; W.Times, 95,000; AJC-318,000, Philly Inquirer-338,000 – figures can be Wikipedia checked for accuracy).

That’s less than 10 percent of the entire population of the United States. TEN PERCENT. That means that 90 percent of Americans do not get their news information from any of these media outlets, whether they be left leaning or right leaning.

To a certain extent, that scares me, because that means that 90 percent of the American population is making their minds up about events, based most likely on their local news and just their own feeling of what they believe to be common sense. Many, I am sure, are influenced by friends and neighbors that hold certain views and opinions as well.

But, the bottom line, and it is funny in my opinion, is that all the shouting and screaming on television, and all the bald face lying that goes on in the media, print or otherwise, is pretty much meaningless. None of these media outlets influence the vast majority of Americans, plain and simple.

The numbers simply do not lie.

UPDATE: Interesting tidbit:

But now there's additional evidence that casts doubt on the bias claims aimed -- with particular venom -- at three broadcast networks.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Obama than on Republican John McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign.

You read it right: tougher on the Democrat.