I came across this editorial in The New York Times, praising Fox News' Shepard Smith for finding something that "Joe the Plumber" said wrong.  The New York Times found something wrong said by a plumber, who was approached by Barack Obama, in a staged door-to-door campaigning event, and asked a simple question that elicited a telling remark - and they wrote an editorial about it.  The editorial is emblematic of the media's complicity in the Obama campaign for President.

Joe the Plumber has been investigated.  Media outlets in Florida and Pennsylvania that asked tough questions of the Obama campaign were cut off from further interviews.  Meanwhile, the major media outlets work hard to figure out why the McCain-Palin ticket is so mean-spirited.

The question of bias has been answered.

What to do with this? 

First, recognize it.  I still have arguments with my liberal friends who want to cite Fox News and The Wall Street Journal editorial page as evidence that there is no media bias toward Obama.  If you don't know that you are being influenced, you aren't in a very good position to discern facts from opinions.

Second, apply it to your reasoning.  I get frustrated by media bias but it has existed for a long time.  I tell my children and their friends that they have an additional responsibility to ensure that they have the facts and not just some of the facts. 

Third, seek outlets that don't have hidden bias.  I am more comfortable reading the left's position from a leftist - or the right's from a conservative - because I am being told of the bias.  So create your own balance.

Update - Two opposite ends of the political spectrum with a common message: