Drudge bias story ... is biased.

So some right-wing friend sends me this link -- of course, from Drudge Report -- that claims to "prove" that the media is biased toward the left. Drudge's headline is UCLA/Stanford Study: Drudge Report is significantly closer to the center than all other media outlets.

Here's the link to the HTML version of the doc:

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:tCEKSNVW-OYJ:mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/MediaBias.doc+drudge%3F&hl=en

and the Word doc:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/MediaBias.doc

Except the problem is, the study is faulty. Here for your reading pleasure is what I wrote my friend....

Cute, but the study compares the news outlet "bias" to the opinions expressed by the average member of Congress. That's an extremely important factor to note.

"Our results show a very significant liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News' Special Report received a score to the left of the average member of Congress."

Congress is NOT a statistical nor a representative sampling of the United States population. Members of the House and Senate are predominantly male, white, middle-aged, Protestant lawyers. That is not a mere observation; it's a statistical fact. It is also a statistical fact that most Americans are not middle-aged, white, Protestant male lawyers. In point of fact, there are approximately 37 lawyers per 1000 people in America.

Moreover, less than half of Americans vote, meaning Congressional representatives are chosen by and large by less than 1/3 of their constituents -- and that's if they win by about a 60% majority of those who bother to vote. They've got the money, the education, and the clout to conduct and win a campaign, which sets them apart from most of the people who elect them.

So the study proves nothing except that much of the media may be reporting news that seems left-wing to the average Congress member. Considering some of the religious blowhard nutcases that have made it to Washington, that is GOOD NEWS.