I think the
liberal media thing primarily addresses how regular
reporters ask questions and write articles. I agree with you that when it comes to over the top unabashed opinions being expressed, conservatives dominate the market. When it comes to supposedly unbiased interviews and articles, however, I do think there is a bit of a leftist leaning. I don't think it is as pronounced as a lot of
conservatives make it out to be, however. Routinely, I hear liberal
politicians making assertions which go unchallenged, whereas there will be followup questions challenging conservatives. That's what sells, though. Conservatives railing against the system. You can't sell that POV without something to rail against.
Addendum 09-15-2005
The actions of the media in more recent times, along with the continuing redrawing of ideological lines has made me rethink a few things. The reality is that in the media, the liberals have won. They won a long time ago. What we have in the media are warring liberal factions. Both camps believe in government control over people's lives, though they each have their own agendas regarding emphasis. All the popular parties believe in using the government as a force to redesign the world as they see fit. They only differ in the details. The old conservative movement, as espoused by Robert Taft is dead. I think that conservatism really morphed into something different following World War II. That war changed a lot of people's minds about what government should and should not do. No real small government conservatives served as President after that, though they did still speak the rhetoric for a while. With George W. Bush, we finally have an end to the rhetoric. He doesn't even speak small government. He is the most effectively liberal President ever to occupy the office. That's one of the reason he gets a pass on so many things from the media.
The media loves government programs. Perhaps this is because big stories are made bigger by government. Oppressive governments cause famine and war quite frequently, and these are exciting stories to watch. I don't think this is a conscious thought on the part of journalists. I don't think they say to themselves "I hope a lot of people die horribly today," but I think there is a small part of them which does, just so they can be in the middle of the action, sort of like how a part of a lot of people wants to see a disaster happen, just to see it. Just like a lot of people watch NASCAR for the wrecks.