A July 26 Media Research Center study by Geoffrey Dickens and Rich Noyes concludes that “when it came to assigning blame for lack of a debt ceiling resolution, ABC, CBS and NBC’s coverage has placed the overwhelming majority of the blame on Republicans’ doorstep.” But at no point do Dickens and Noyes dispute the accuracy of this coverage.
The authors assert that it’s “anti-Republican” and a biased “tilt” to blame Republicans for the debt ceiling crisis — but, again, they offer no evidence that this conclusion is false.
The authors add:
Democrats believe that they gained political advantage during the government shutdowns in late 1995 and early 1996, when the national media also disproportionately battered the Republican side of the stand-off. Once again, the broadcast networks seem eager to hand another liberal President an election-year narrative: that conservatives are an intransigent obstacle, while liberals offer a “balanced” and reasonable alternative.
Again, Dickens and Noyes do not dispute the accuracy of either narrative; they are merely complaining that it’s being reported.
This, folks, is what the MRC peddles as “media research.”