Although you are correct that there were many black people who traded other blacks as slaves, you're wrong that America is the only country where they represent a "slave race".  Africans were traded as slaves all across the world.  They were ripped from their homes and countries.  They were sold on the open market.  They were shipped off to countries far and wide.  Again, saying America is the only place where a "slave race" was created is patently false. 

From the Now-It-Can-Be-Told Dept:

Fox News: Palin didn't know Africa was a continent

We just elected a guy who doesn't know how many states are in his own country.

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Sure we did.

Thanks, Bruce - I appreciate your candor.  And thanks to everyone else who chimed in, as well.

Wouldn't it also true be that beyond bias within stories themselves ... and again, I view anything beyond who, what, where and when as editorial ... there's also an unavoidable bias in what doesn't get reported?  To me, the media has so much larger a responsibility than how they report the news ... they decide what IS news and what is NOT by virtue of what they choose to report.

Of course, I feel for editors and publishers ... where does one draw the line in terms of what could matter to the public.  (Bruce, I sense this is where your points about good-natured journalists making mistakes, etc., fits?)

Maybe I'm just waxing philosophical here, but ...

The media's bias is primarily how can I fill inches/time with minimal effort with a side order of what's in it for me?  No amount of personal bias is going to keep a juicy scandal from being flogged to death, for example.  They write themselves, and that leaves more time to schmooze and backstab.  The media is lazy, not liberal.

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You bring up another good point, Kevin.  I remember a trend in the 90's where video press releases were being produced to appear as broadcast news segments, with fake reporters, etc. .... the idea was to appeal to news stations who'd hopefully just run the thing as produced, as the video producers did their work for them.  These VPR's were effectively informercials for whoever funded their production.

Again, in all fairness, Biden said that FDR was president during the Great Depression and spoke to the country via the television.

This just came over the radio: Indy Obama Workers Say They Weren't Properly Paid

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/17915606/detail.html

Hate to say this, but that comes as no surprise. We just elected a guy who doesn't know how many states are in his own country. I think this reflects badly in general on the choices we, as Americans, make for our leadership. Or that, with 24 hour news and such, it's simply easier to catch people saying dumb stuff.

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I'm sure it's a combination of many things, Valerie.  I found this to be the most interesting election season ever because it brought so many things about our society out into the light.  (Which is hopefully a precursor to some semblance of transformation, however limited it may be.)

Again, what I found most troubling is that Fox knew all this stuff during the election and didn't report it, when many other news outlets did.  Heck, the Palin going rogue stuff made SNL ... and yet, Fox didn't report it because it was supposed to be off the record.

I'm not surprised by Fox covering up for the McCain campaign.  I've just rarely seen such a thing shoved in our faces with such a cavalier attitude.

(edited for some grammar issues)

...there's also an unavoidable bias in what doesn't get reported?  To me, the media has so much larger a responsibility than how they report the news ... they decide what IS news and what is NOT by virtue of what they choose to report.

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Oh, I think that's where most of the bias occurs. Most journalists are far too honest to blatantly slant their stories one way or the other. But where bias (which I believe is unintentional, but also unavoidable) creeps in is deciding what stories to cover and where they should be played.

So it's not just a matter of reporting the facts. It's deciding which facts get reported - and which facts are emphasized.

The media is lazy, not liberal.

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I don't believe this for a second, by the way. The people I've worked with in the news business, by and large, are extremely hard-working people. I know plenty of journalists who routinely work 60-hour weeks (I wasn't in that camp, but maybe I was one of the lazy ones!). Characterizing journalists as lazy is unfair and inaccurate, in my opinion.

Journalists definitely skew more toward the liberal side as a group, even if it doesn't come across in their reporting. When we would get together and privately discuss politics, I always was in the distinct minority. Some professions just attract people of certain political leanings (I doubt you'll find too many bankers who vote Democrat, for example.)