Recent evidence suggests that conservative elites' claims of a liberal medi
a are having an impact upon public perceptions of news coverage. With this
in mind, we examine two related questions in the context of the 1988, 1992,
and 1996 presidential elections. First, what factors may be prompting cons
ervative elites to make allegations of liberal media bias? Second, what fac
tors may influence when news media report these criticisms during president
ial campaigns? Findings suggest that these criticisms of news media are at
least partly strategic and reflect a dynamic relationship between political
elites and journalists during a presidential campaign.