Working the Ref

A frequently made assertion by pundits on the American right is that the mainstream news media, including most major newspapers and all of the major cable news networks (other than Fox News) have a left-wing bias. Though the claim that the corporate news media has a secret anti-conservative agenda is suspect at best, the “liberal media” has become a useful idea for conservatives, a whipping boy that allows them to claim persecution at the hands of a cabal of liberal journalists, and to gain leverage in the attempt to push news coverage to the right ("the center" they might claim). "If you watch any great coach," said Rich Bond, the 1992 chair of the republican party, "what they try to do is 'work the refs.' Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack on the next one."