> But on controversial issues they tend to appear neutral (offering no opinion) while at the same time couching the questions and loading their questions. I di

> But on controversial issues they tend to appear neutral (offering no opinion) while at the same time couching the questions and loading their questions. I disagree with this as a general characterization. I do think it's true that NPR presents a neutral facade while most of the hosts and commentators harbor leftist views under the surface (or in their public life), but I think in general they make a pretty good effort to present both sides of an issue without demonizing one side, and I think this is especially noticeable during the discussion of controversial ideas. A big difference between NPR (i.e. radio on the left) and the rest (i.e. conservative talk radio) is that the standard for debate on NPR is "a veneer of respect"; this doesn't mean that debates don't get heated or at times end up lopsided, but you won't find NPR hosts openly lambasting conservatism as a mental disease, or referring to right-leaning callers as morons or unpatriotic or terrorist supporters or really anything along those lines. NPR is very far from perfect, but IMO they at least shoot for an ideal that keeps the dialog open for discussion. > but they try to hide it, which, to me, is more perverse than the blatant left and blatant right, who at least aren't pretending to be objective. I don't think they're trying to hide it, it's more that their journalistic ethos ostensibly respects the idea of neutral reporting, thus keeping partisanship at least within the range of plausible deniability, similar to how agents of the government give constant lip-service to the ideals of the constitution but regularly run around it in practice or in spirit when it suits their needs. It's true that many of the politically elite don't respect the constitution, but some really do and the rest have to at least pretend like they do whenever possible because that's the ideal that the people want to be true. Journalism is similar; pretending to be unbiased does produce reporting with less bias.