# I wish conservatives would stop saying the media has a liberal bias **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 9, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686 "2008-03-09T03:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/1 "2008-03-09T03:55:15Z")
And that liberals would stop saying that the media does not have a liberal bias. The word “media” is plural. Conservatives, please say: The media have a liberal bias. Liberals, please say: The media do not have a liberal bias. I am more annoyed with the conservatives that use “media” as a singular word. Conservatives should embrace prescriptivism. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/2 "2008-03-09T04:05:42Z")
I wish the medias stopped having biases. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/3 "2008-03-09T04:09:40Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] And that liberals would stop saying that the media does not have a liberal bias. The word “media” is plural. [/quote] Really? Do you have an agenda here? If not, then justify why “agenda” is singular, but “media” cannot be. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/4 "2008-03-09T04:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Really? Do you have an agenda here? If not, then justify why “agenda” is singular, but “media” cannot be. [/QUOTE] Grammatically, the word “media” is a plural noun. The singular is “medium.” “Agenda” is a singular noun. The plural is “agendas.” There is a word “agendum” which refers to a single item on an agenda, but “agenda” itself is still singular. The Latin word _agenda_, a gerund meaning " [a thing or things] to be done" is plural in _Latin_ (_agendum_ is the singular), but in English, “agenda” is singular. The OP is correct. The word “media” gets misused as a singular all the time. I would also like to take a moment to spit on the initialism, “MSM,” which is lame and implies a monolithic entity which doesn’t actually exist. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/5 "2008-03-09T05:10:06Z")
From [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com); emphasis mine: > [@](#): > > Usage Note: The etymologically plural form media is often used as a singular to refer to a particular means of communication, as in The Internet is the most exciting new media since television. Many people regard this usage as incorrect, preferring medium in such contexts. · People also use media with the definite article as a collective term to refer not to the forms of communication themselves so much as the communities and institutions behind them. In this sense, the media means something like “the press.” **Like other collective nouns, it may take a singular or plural verb depending on the intended meaning.** If the point is to emphasize the multifaceted nature of the press, a plural verb may be more appropriate: The media have covered the trial in a variety of formats. Frequently, however, media stands as a singular noun for the aggregate of journalists and broadcasters: The media has not shown much interest in covering the trial. This development of a singular media parallels that of more established words such as data and agenda, which are also Latin plurals that have acquired a singular meaning. · The singular medium cannot be used as a collective noun for the press. The sentence No medium has shown much interest in covering the issue, would suggest that the lack of interest is in the means of communication itself rather than in its practitioners. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/6 "2008-03-09T05:48:11Z")
Yes, that usage is often seen. That doesn’t make it any less incorrect. I do not like the argument that enough people using a word incorrectly makes it ok. For example, I don’t care how many online dictionaries say that it’s ok to use “literally” as an intensifier. It’s not an intensifier and people who use it that way are subliterate and that’s all there is to it. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/7 "2008-03-09T06:16:55Z")
Part of the problem is that if you say, “The medium has a liberal bias”, then folks will tell you to go to a conservative seer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/8 "2008-03-09T22:47:33Z")
The Media ARE the Message. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/9 "2008-03-09T23:07:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Diogenes the Cynic** > I would also like to take a moment to spit on the initialism, “MSM,” which is lame and implies a monolithic entity which doesn’t actually exist. We don’t view them as a monolithic entity. We view them as a lot of like-minded individuals who habitually engage in groupthink. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/10 "2008-03-09T23:09:27Z")
The media are literally biased? ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/11 "2008-03-09T23:34:16Z")
i can has bias? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/12 "2008-03-09T23:36:44Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] i can has bias? [/QUOTE] NO. Media can has bias. Do try to keep up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/13 "2008-03-09T23:54:02Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] NO. Media can has bias. Do try to keep up. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Media can _have_ bias. Medium can has bias. Do I need to draw you a flowchart? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/14 "2008-03-09T23:56:48Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] The Media ARE the Message. [/QUOTE] These are good news 😉 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/15 "2008-03-10T00:01:32Z")
[QUOTE=Jurph] Media can _have_ bias. Medium can has bias. Do I need to draw you a flowchart? [/QUOTE] Yes. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/16 "2008-03-10T01:12:58Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Grammatically, the word “media” is a plural noun. The singular is “medium.” [/QUOTE] That was likely true a long time ago, but it is not today. Most dictionaries, mine included, cite media as being both a plural AND a single noun, and the single noun has a number of definitions. > [@](#): > > The OP is correct. The word “media” gets misused as a singular all the time. The OP is wrong. Every decent dictionary cites “media” as both singular and plural, depending on the definition in use. In the context the OP is complaining about - the mass of communications outlets including television, radio, and regular print - it is a singular noun and has been used that way for quite a long time. Collective nouns are perfectly acceptable in English, and are grammatically treated as singulars in American (and Canadian) English, as you, an American, should know. If you are like 99.999% of your countrymen, you very likely say “the data leads me to this conclusion,” treating it as a singular, not “the data lead me to this conclusion,” even though data was originally a plural in Latin. “Stamina” is another example; that used to be a plural, too. “Data” has now taken on the sense of a collective singular. “Media” is like that now. In some contexts. We’re speaking English, not Latin. Nothing wrong with changing some words to suit our uses, and this isn’t a recent change. > [@](#): > > “Agenda” is a singular noun. The plural is “agendas.” There is a word “agendum” which refers to a single item on an agenda, but “agenda” itself is still singular. By your standards around “media,” you’re contradicting yourself. Originally, “agenda” was a plural, “agendum” the singular, and “agendas” was not a word at all. “Agenda” became a singular simply because it makes sense to use it that way. I agree that misuse doesn’t make something okay, but there’s a reason “media” has found purchase as a singular; it’s not illiteracy, it’s something done by a sort of design. Using “literally” as an intensifier is stupid because there’s just no reason to do it; it serves no purpose, and it probably won’t last (although it might; lots of words we use now have completely different meanings than they used to.) But “Media” as a singular to describe TV, radio et al. is quite useful as a collective noun. It had a distinct meaning apart from a simple plural of “medium.” ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/17 "2008-03-10T02:12:56Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] That was likely true a long time ago, but it is not today. Most dictionaries, mine included, cite media as being both a plural AND a single noun, and the single noun has a number of definitions. The OP is wrong. Every decent dictionary cites “media” as both singular and plural, depending on the definition in use. In the context the OP is complaining about - the mass of communications outlets including television, radio, and regular print - it is a singular noun and has been used that way for quite a long time. Collective nouns are perfectly acceptable in English, and are grammatically treated as singulars in American (and Canadian) English, as you, an American, should know. If you are like 99.999% of your countrymen, you very likely say “the data leads me to this conclusion,” treating it as a singular, not “the data lead me to this conclusion,” even though data was originally a plural in Latin. “Stamina” is another example; that used to be a plural, too. “Data” has now taken on the sense of a collective singular. “Media” is like that now. In some contexts. We’re speaking English, not Latin. Nothing wrong with changing some words to suit our uses, and this isn’t a recent change. By your standards around “media,” you’re contradicting yourself. Originally, “agenda” was a plural, “agendum” the singular, and “agendas” was not a word at all. “Agenda” became a singular simply because it makes sense to use it that way. I agree that misuse doesn’t make something okay, but there’s a reason “media” has found purchase as a singular; it’s not illiteracy, it’s something done by a sort of design. Using “literally” as an intensifier is stupid because there’s just no reason to do it; it serves no purpose, and it probably won’t last (although it might; lots of words we use now have completely different meanings than they used to.) But “Media” as a singular to describe TV, radio et al. is quite useful as a collective noun. It had a distinct meaning apart from a simple plural of “medium.” [/QUOTE] Do you approve of the signs at express checkout lines in supermarkets saying, “10 items or less”? Constant misuse does not make the misuse any less incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/18 "2008-03-10T02:23:00Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] The Media ARE the Message. [/QUOTE] No: The medium is the message, according to McLuhan, so the media would be several different messages. Similarly, the media (in the US) have conservative biases. (They aren’t all the same message, they each have different biases. If they all had the same message and the same bias, they would be the same medium.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/19 "2008-03-10T02:24:58Z")
Part of the problem is, what word should replace “media” as a noun referring to everything that word does these days? I would argue that “medium” is clearly wrong for the job, so what’s left? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686/20 "2008-03-10T02:40:15Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Do you approve of the signs at express checkout lines in supermarkets saying, “10 items or less”? Constant misuse does not make the misuse any less incorrect. [/QUOTE] Ooh, the descriptivists are gonna jump all over you! [Link.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9277979&postcount=94) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-conservatives-would-stop-saying-the-media-has-a-liberal-bias/440686.md?page=2)