The issue at hand is that clearly the press does not make choices about what footage to air and what footage not to air on the basis of the nature of the footage alone. The press makes these decisions on a political basis. While this author's reference to footage of "partial birth abortions" is partisan and oversimplified, the general point must be considered. The press makes political decisions about what to air. In that sense they cannot be seen as objective. Once we've reached that conclusion we must ask what the political motives of the press actually are, and whether we feel like those motives are in line with our interests.

[ I've spoken and written about this from time to time as well, usually in the context of bloggers' impact on the balance of media bias. In all, I still feel that if the press is going to be biased, which I think is a fact difficult to refute, I'd rather know it, and let them be honest and straightforward about their leanings. For a news outlet to claim neutrality while spinning to one side or another undermines their credibility, and ultimately damages the entire institution. If Fox News' tag line was "We're right..." i'd have a lot less enmity than I do... but they hold up this flag of idealistic journalism "FAIR AND BALANCED" while being irrefutably right-leaning on a consistent basis. Let's can the doublespeak, I say. -k]

Jonah Goldberg on Abu Ghraib on National Review Online