I just got around to reading Jon Ham’s most recent Media Mangle (sorry Jon, I’ve been on the road), which ridicules the idea pushed by The News & Observer’s Ted Vaden (and many others) that newspapers aren’t biased in favor of the left:


As I made my turn from liberal to conservative about 1993, the liberal
bias of even my own newspaper became painfully evident. As I wrote
later, most journalists are like fish who have no idea they’re wet.
That includes most journalists who stick to the “we’re unbiased”
fiction, like Vaden and his boss, Melanie Sill. Remembering my own
delusion, I have no doubt they are sincere in their protestations.

This brought to mind what I think might be a better analogy, after having just watched “The Sixth Sense” again over the weekend:

Cole Sear:
I see dead people.
Malcolm Crowe:
In your dreams?
[Cole shakes his head no]
Malcolm Crowe:
While you’re awake?
[Cole nods]
Malcolm Crowe:
Dead people like, in graves? In coffins?
Cole Sear:
Walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They
only see what they want to see. They don’t know they’re dead.