To the editor:

Once again the right-wing bias in media ownership and editorship makes itself evident, in this case with the Oct. 30 Saturday Column. The writer claimed The New York Times was “eager to break a story they thought would damage the Bush campaign” and then gives no indication as to what story that was. As for the CBS story about records regarding Bush’s National Guard Service, it’s not been conclusively shown those records were “phony,” and the question remains: Why doesn’t Bush release documents about his service?

The column cites a poll of Washington-based reporters that shows a favoring of Kerry. But it’s not the reporters who have a real measure of influence, as the writer knows. It’s the editors and media ownership. The Saturday Column author didn’t cite any poll of media owners, and that’s not surprising; it almost certainly would have shown a bias toward Bush. Not to mention any poll of CEOs also would show a bias toward Bush.

If the writer wanted to write a column about media bias, he should have included the following: (1) Fox News daily biases concerning everything from the war in Iraq to domestic issues, owned by conservative mogul Rupert Murdoch. (2) The endless war drumbeat amplified by all major media before the war in Iraq. (3) The constant neglect in the media of the squashing of civil liberties due to the Patriot Act. And on and on.

Why write a column about bias in the media and not include anything that would suggest there’s a conservative bias? One can only conclude he himself is biased.

Nathan Carlson,

Lawrence