As the Democratic nomination process continues, supporters of both candidates accuse the media of bias. Each time a particular negative narrative takes hold in news stories for a few days, it is a sign of some sort of bias. At one time, these arguments gained much traction with me, but I was enlightened.

I used to think the media held a bias against me, personally. A few years ago, a now defunct kitten fancier website held the Kitty Cat Cutie Contest to which entrants would submit their cutest picture of a kitten doing something adorable. I submitted a photograph of my two-year-old tabby, Mr. Foo Foo. In the picture, Mr. Foo Foo is wearing a little bonnet and I am feeding him mashed tuna fish (chicken of the sea). At first, I just sent emails to my friend, imploring them to vote for my photo of Mr. Foo Foo. I realized, though, that I was going to need to recruit more people around the country to submit their votes. I sent press releases announcing the debut of Mr. Foo Foo on the cat fancier website to newspapers and to local and national television news organizations. Would you believe that not one of these organizations was willing to even send me a reply acknowledging my submission? I held a press conference, and nobody was there; well, except for Mother.

Understandably, I concluded there was media bias against me. Then something happened that allowed me to gain some perspective. A farmer called McKracken in rural Texas filed a complaint alleging that I was sneaking Mr. Foo Foo into his chicken coupe and turning him loose for the night. The media was all over this story like stink on rice. Local muckrakers wrote reams about Mr. Foo Foo’s contest entry and subsequent coupe incident. They sustained the controversy and frightened other farmers. Of course, the media completely distorted what had occurred, but that did not matter. It was all about the Lincolns.

On the whole, the media is not biased toward a particular point of view. News purveyors will frame a story in such a way to inflame passions and fears in order to generate revenue. There was never an anti- Foo Foo agenda. The only media bias is toward revenue generating controversy, even if it is manufactured.

Kirk Soodhalter is a Ph.D. student in the department of mathematics at Temple. Originally from Houston, TX, he got his undergraduate degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. He likes to get haircuts and make toast. He enjoys manufacturing satire, more of which can be seen at his personal blog.