Conservative columnists rule US editorial pages

15 September, 2007:

Conservatives write most of the syndicated columns in the editorial pages of newspapers in the United States.

George Will’s column runs in more US newspapers than any other writer’s column in the country, according to a new study by Media Matters for America, a progressive, journalistic watchdog group.

The syndicated column by George Will runs at least once a month in 368 newspapers in the United States, with over 26 million in total circulation.

Media Matters for America surveyed 96% of the 1,430 English-language dailies being published in the United States.

Paul Waldman, the study’s author, remarks that “George Will reaches half of the newspaper readers in America. He has a huge megaphone, probably
bigger than anybody else in America.”

Waldman described the trend as “one more nail in the coffin of the myth of liberal media bias.” Better balance should be the goal, he said.

The journalistic watchdog group found that 60% of the daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists each week than liberals; 20% of the papers are dominated by liberals, and 20% are balanced.

Media Matters for America said had no information on local columnists.

George Will, 66, distributes two columns each week to newspapers through the Washington Post Writers Group and writes every other week for Newsweek magazine. He has been a columnist since 1974, when newspapers began searching for conservative voices after the late President Richard Nixon’s administration complained about liberal bias.

George Will remarked of the Media Matters for America’s findings: “It’s pleasing news, because one never knows. You send these things out and you can’t possibly keep track of how the newspapers are using them.”

Alan Shearer, editorial director and general manager of the group that syndicates George Will’s column, said he thinks that Will’s column is popular because it contains original reporting and is not just opinion. George Will can also be unpredictable, and predictability is the death of columnists, he added.

According to the survey, some well-known TV personalities cannot approach George Will for reach in their written work. Bill O’Reilly, for example, reaches 4 million readers, and Ann Coulter reaches 1.1 million readers.

The five most popular columnists include another conservative, Kathleen Parker, and two liberals, Ellen Goodman and Leonard Pitts Jr.

Media Matters for America has not assigned David Broder of the Washington Post, who is third, an ideology.

The top 10 is rounded out by Cal Thomas, Charles Krauthammer and three from the New York Times – Thomas L Friedman, Maureen Dowd, and David Brooks.