The Media Research Center has produced a new study which they claim shows that in the last six months, the major networks have labelled 'conservatives' as such at six times as frequency that 'liberals' are similarly tagged. Essentially they counted the number of times 'liberal' or 'conservative' was used as an identifier by the major networks, in a specifically american political context. They claim the discrepancy shows that liberals remain unlabelled, while the designation of conservatives as such serves as a warning to viewers that the source is ideologically biased.

But the study is not really so definitive. Surely the most straightforward interpretation of their data is that the networks are simply citing conservative commentators six times as frequently as they use liberal sources, with each side being identified at the same rate. Not consistent with our experience perhaps, but formally possible.