68% Believe the News Media is Biased

That number in itself is astonishing only in that it's that low, but that's not the only story:

Likely voters hold a dismal view of the news media, generally regarding reporters as biased, unethical and too close to the politicians they purport to cover, according to a new poll for The Hill.

A full 68 percent of voters consider the news media biased, the poll found. Most, 46 percent, believe the media generally favor Democrats, while 22 percent said they believe Republicans are favored, with 28 percent saying the media is reasonably balanced.

The share of voters who believe the media are too friendly with politicians is almost twice as large as those who find their coverage of politicians appropriate. Forty-four percent of voters assert the former; only 24 percent believe the latter.

The 22% who think the media is biased towards Republicans are probably the hardest of the hardcore lefties who think that any media report that doesn't promote outright socialism is a Republican plot.  The 28% who think the media is reasonably balanced are probably largely made up of the squishy middle which tends to lean to the left and therefore wouldn't have much objection to reporting that comes from that direction.

What's interesting is that since Fox News first arose as a power that drew a more conservative audience, no media outlet has chosen to challenge them for the sizable conservative piece of the pie.  There's a lot of money to be made by any outlet that chooses to appeal to more conservative America, but nobody wants to do it.  It's not that Fox is unbeatable, but that by the time most journalists finish their schooling and training they're ideology is so hardened to the left they just can't bring themselves to think any other way.

Somebody is missing a good opportunity out there.