If It's Sunday, It's Conservative

[SOURCE: Media Matters for America]
The Sunday morning talk shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC are where policy makers state their case, the conventional wisdom takes shape, and the left and right in American politics debate the pressing issues of the day on equal ground. Both sides have their say and face probing questions. Or so you would think. In fact, as this study reveals, conservative voices significantly outnumber progressive voices on the Sunday talk shows. Among the study's key findings: 1) During President Clinton's second term, the right held a small advantage in the balance between Democrats/progressives and Republicans/conservatives. But in President Bush's first term, Republicans and conservatives held a dramatic advantage, outnumbering Democrats and progressives by 58 percent to 42 percent. In 2005, the figures were identical: 58 percent to 42 percent. 2) Counting only elected officials and administration representatives, Democrats had an eight-point advantage during Clinton's second term, 53 percent to 45 percent. In Bush's first term, however, the Republican advantage was 61 percent to 39 percent, nearly three times as large. 3) In both the Clinton and Bush administrations, conservative journalists were far more likely to appear on the Sunday shows than were progressive journalists. In Clinton's second term, 61 percent of the ideologically identifiable journalists were conservative; in Bush's first term, that figure rose to 69 percent. 4) In 1997 and 1998, the shows conducted more solo interviews with Democrats and progressives than with Republicans and conservatives. But in every year since, there have been more solo interviews with Republicans and conservatives. 5) The most frequent Sunday show guest during this nine-year period is Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) who has appeared 124 times. A staggering 69 percent (86 out of 124) of McCain's appearances have been solo interviews. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) has been the most frequent guest since 2003, but only 31 percent (25 out of 80) of his appearances have been solo interviews. 6) In every year examined by the study -- 1997 through 2005 -- more multi-guest panel discussions tilted right (a greater number of Republicans/conservatives than Democrats/progressives) than tilted left. In some years, there were two, three, or even four times as many right-titled panels as left-tilted panels. 7) Congressional opponents of the Iraq war were largely absent from the Sunday shows, particularly during the period just before the war began.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200602140003

* NBC Calls Media Matters Study Misleading
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6307684?display=Breaking+News...
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