Here is a table produced by the Pew Charitable Trusts for Excellence in Journalism. In case you don't know, the Pew Charitable Trusts are among the largest, most prestigious foundations in America. Totally mainstream. Their Project for Excellence in Journalism comes out of the top rated Columbia School of Journalism and is one of the few media research organizations without a political axe to grind. The numbers are derived from a comprehensive study examining 1,149 stories from 17 leading news sources DURING THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL RACE BETWEEN AL GORE AND GEORGE W BUSH.
Gore Bush
Positive 13% 24%
Neutral 31% 27%
Negative 56% 49%
Total 100% 100%
Now, if one assumes that the press is "liberal", it stands to reason that Democratic political candidates would tend to have more positive, and less negative stories written about them than would Republican candidates, right? So how did this happen? The truth is that the press got caught up in the LIES that were told about Al Gore, The Exaggerator. For example, the statement that Al Gore "created" the Internet, which first appeared in a Republican Party press release and would be repeated by the "liberal' press thousands of times during the campaign.
Here's what really happened: In the 1980's, Gore was one of the handful of leaders who foresaw the tremendous potential of Arpanet, an emergency military computer network. As both congressman and Senator, Gore fought tirelessly for the funding that would turn Arpanet into what is now the Internet. With this is mind, Gore told Wolf Blitzer in a '99 interview "During my service in the US Congress, i took the initiative in creating the Internet". What do you suppose he meant? That he stayed up late nights in his office writing the PASCAL code which allowed packet switching? No. What he seemed to be doing was taking credit for a program he championed and funded. In this particular case, one that revolutionized the information infrastructure of the entire world.
What an asshole...
So, in this particular case, the "liberal" press actually helped get a conservative candidate elected, it seems to me.