Political scientist Dr. Michael Cornfield said on Friday that bias does not imply bad motives on the part of the media.
“Bias is a very 1980s, 1990s term,” Cornfield told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking,” when asked about Americans’ attitudes toward the media.
“What’s the 21st century term?” Concha asked.
“‘Fake news’ and the difference is, is bias doesn’t imply bad motives,” Cornfield replied.
“When our president tweets the news is coming from the ‘fake news media,’ he’s implying that there’s something malicious going on, and that takes this whole question area to a level we haven’t had it at since [Sen.] Joe McCarthy (R-Wis.) in the 1950s,” he continued.
Trump frequently refers to news outlets such as CNN as “fake news,” in an effort to blast their coverage of him.
Cornfield was responding to a new American Barometer poll, conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company, which found that 57 percent of voters polled said the media was biased.
Republicans polled appeared to be convinced the media was biased against their party, while Democrats were less convinced.
— Julia Manchester
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