I suppose some might quibble with some details. David Broder and Thomas Friedman are both listed as centrists, for example. In Freidman's case I think a number of folks on the left (Kos for example) would call him a conservative while I bet there are people on the right who call him a liberal. But maybe that is the very definition of a centrist. While to my mind Krugman is correctly labeled a liberal (he is also the best columnist of the last 6 years) I remember when he wrote about trade issues and economics in Slate and often pissed off economic populists. That said, this seems like a pretty valid study and to those not in the thrall of right-wing propaganda not all that surprising.

One issue that is not addressed but would make the picture even more one-sided is the presence in the list of a number of writers who I would call completely disinterested in a fair and honest presentation of issues. Of the 100 listed that I am familiar with those folks are all on the right with Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reily, and Jonah Goldberg being the ones who jump out at me. These people are not journalists, they are dishonest smear artists pushing spin rather than facts. As far as I know there are no left wing counter parts on the list. I may rarely agree with guys like George Will, David Brooks, or even Pat Buchanan, but I will at least grant that they are for the most part intellectually honest and do not purposely ignore or distort facts for political purposes.

[And Hammer would be disappointed if I did not point out, as I always do in these circumstances, that the so called liberal "Red Star" and Tribune has a weekly religion section and a daily business section but neither a science section nor a labor section.]

Labels: liberal media, media, press