These two charts (here and here) by Media Matters deserve more attention, for they overwhelmingly refute the ridiculous notion of "liberal media" dominance on cable TV news. Here are the explosive findings: During inauguration day coverage, Republicans and conservatives outnumbered progressives nineteen to seven on Fox, ten to one on CNN and thirteen to two on MSNBC. On prime-time, the trend continued. Conservatives outnumbered liberals twenty-five to four on Fox News, seven to one on CNN and nine to five on MSNBC. When the occasional Democrat did actually appear, he or she was usually paired against a rival Republican, whereas most conservatives appeared solo or with fellow ideologues. Even a panel discussion with CNN's Carlos Watson included four Republicans, and only one Democrat and one swing voter.

If John Kerry had been inaugurated, would Democrats have outnumbered conservatives by 10-1 margins? We think not. It says something very troubling about the state of the mainstream media when Fox News has a fairer guest ratio than CNN or MSNBC. Though the inauguration coverage ratcheted the partiality meter to unforeseen proportions, this type of skewed presentation has existed on the television news for years.

During the presidential debates, MSNBC's pre and post-debate panels consistently skewed right, featuring all-Republican panels and GOP guests who spoke before, and more often, than their fellow Democrats. Even the respected Sunday talk shows suffer from conservative coddling. Since the election, CBS's Face the Nation has featured eleven current or former Republican officials, compared to seven Democrats. Host Bob Schieffer even admitted his imbalance in an interview with, tellingly, Sean Hannity. "I had Senator Frist on for the entire show. We had Secretary of State Powell on for the entire broadcast. In one broadcast, we had three Republicans on and didn't have a Democrat."

Sad, but true. Schieffer's counterpart, the idolized Tim Russert, also stacks his Meet the Press panels, regularly pitting unabashed conservatives like The New York Times' William Safire and National Review's Kate O'Beirne against carefully non-aligned establishment journalists such as Newsweek's Evan Thomas or the Washington Post's David Broder, who refuses to even vote, lest it corrupt his non-partisan credentials.

As Bush bombs his way to freedom abroad, our own domestic institutions require closer inspection. With Republicans already controlling Washington, a one-party media is the last thing US democracy needs.

© 2005 The Nation