LA Times Contributor Says Journalism Bias Isn't Simply Left vs. Right

The Los Angeles Times has published a contributor column headlined "Bias is hindering journalism, but maybe not how the right and left assume," a title that positions the essay against the standard accusation — heard from both conservative and progressive media critics — that newsroom output tilts predictably toward one political camp. The full column is available at the Los Angeles Times.

What does the headline claim about bias in journalism?

The title itself signals a departure from the familiar complaint on both sides of the aisle. Conservative critics have long argued that mainstream newsrooms lean left in story selection and framing. Progressive critics have countered that commercial incentives and access journalism produce coverage that favors establishment power regardless of party. The Los Angeles Times column's headline suggests neither diagnosis fully captures the problem it means to address, though the title alone does not specify which alternative explanation the piece favors.

Why is media bias hard to pin down?

Newsroom bias has been argued over across American outlets for decades, and the disagreement itself is often part of the story: audiences on the right and left frequently point to identical coverage as proof of opposite slants. That divergence complicates any single essay's attempt to reframe the debate, since readers typically arrive with existing assumptions the piece would need to unsettle rather than confirm.

What is the LA Times' role in this debate?

The Los Angeles Times is one of the largest regional newspapers in the United States and routinely runs contributor essays that are distinct from its own editorial board's positions. The paper marks that distinction explicitly by labeling the piece a "Contributor" column rather than staff commentary, a distinction that matters for readers trying to determine whether the argument reflects institutional Times policy or one writer's individual view.

What would resolve the disagreement over bias?

Researchers who study coverage patterns typically examine sourcing, story selection and framing across large samples of reporting rather than relying on a single essay or anecdote, since individual articles rarely settle broader claims about systemic tilt in an industry. The Times column's title implies its own diagnosis differs from both the conventional left and right explanations, but that claim can only be evaluated against the full argument in the piece, not the headline in isolation.

What to watch

• Whether other outlets or press critics respond directly to the column's framing of bias.
• Whether the Los Angeles Times editorial board addresses the same question separately from this contributor piece.
• Whether readers who identify as conservative or progressive converge on the column's argument or continue to read the same piece as confirming their prior view of the paper's leanings.