Elite cues and media bias in presidential campaigns - Explaining public perceptions of a liberal press

Public perception of a biased news media, particularly media biased in a li beral direction, has increased over the past 3 presidential elections. To e xamine what might be influencing this public opinion, the authors look at s hifts in public perception of media bias, press coverage of the topic of me dia bias, and the balance in valence coverage of presidential candidates-al l during the 1988, 1992, and 1996 presidential elections. Their results sug gest that the rise in public perception that news media are liberally biase d is not the result of bias in valence news coverage of the candidates, but , rather, due to increasing news self-coverage that focuses on the general topic of bias in news content. Furthermore, the increased claims of media b ias come primarily from conservative elites who have proclaimed a liberal b ias that is viewed as including the entire media industry.