In response to Tuesday's ridiculous political cartoon on the opinion page, I'd like to point out the flaws in the claim that there is a liberal media bias.

Many people confuse the words "objective" and "liberal." Objective means that both sides of a story are told with the same vigor and emphasis. This is the cornerstone of journalism in a democratic society. As the government's watchdog, the media are supposed to report what's going on in Washington to the rest of the country while allowing the politicians to have their fair say about what's being reported. This, most agree, is the majority of what we see on ABC, CNN and CBS -- a relatively fair and balanced presentation of current events. Fox News and CNBC are another story, but their right-wing bias is a topic for another discussion. Now, I can understand how some may view this practice as liberal. Liberals are champions of equal rights and are strong supporters of programs that may give the little guy a bit more to stand on. This does not, however, make the media liberal. Even if the majority of journalists are liberal (maybe because they have a broad view of the world from which to draw conclusions) the media owners are the opposite: white, male, wealthy conservatives.

Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to feel very threatened by a media outlet that blatantly claims to be liberal (Air America Radio). I wonder why, when they've enjoyed years of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Fox News. Maybe it's because they know that most Americans are progressive, open-minded, kind people that would vote Democratic if reality were allowed to run rampant.