SOUNDING OFF:

Letter writer Chris Kerins is right (“Media are too diverse to hide any conspiracy,” Dec. 4).

There was no conspiracy among members of the mainstream media to influence the most recent presidential election, nor will there be for our next one. Very simply, no conspiracy was necessary. Please allow me to elucidate:

Every school kid can tell you how much the McCain campaign spent on Sarah Palin’s wardrobe. It was front-page news in the New York Times and just about every other left-leaning publication in America, which is just about every publication. They can also tell you her daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. Ditto regarding the reportage. But how much did the campaign spend to fly Obama to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandma in a leased jet?

According to my calculations, the cost was just a bit more than Palin’s clothing. Did you read about this in any of our mainstream publications or view it on newscasts? I think not. Did they not think to ask? Or did they simply not care what the answer might be? Or did they not wish to publicize something that might reflect unfavorably on their favored candidate?

How about the fact that Rep. Linda Sanchez is pregnant out of wedlock? How much mainstream media coverage did this fact receive? Do you believe the majority of school kids know about it? I think not.

The reason is simple. Kerins should know that more than four out of five American journalists gleefully and proudly admit to being liberal, or “progressive” (the term “liberalism” has fallen out of favor).

Interestingly, and predictably, the journalism professors who taught them mirror that same political persuasion. As such, they report the news the way they see it, or want it to be seen, or give it the slant that it needs in order to support their particular political opinions. That’s why Obama got twice as much ink in the lead-up to the election as did McCain, and that’s why the ink he got was three times more favorable.

So, no meeting among conspirators under the cover of darkness to influence an election proved necessary. The favoritism shown was blatant, out in the open, in the bright light of day, among all those who were ideologically simpatico. The mainstream media used to claim to be unbiased. That claim can no longer be made.

CHUCK CASSITY lives in Costa Mesa.