How Biased Is the Media?

There has been accusations of media bias as far back as when mass media began in its earliest forms.

In the United States there were accusations of media bias back in the 1700s, including against Ben Franklin, wrote Walter Isaacson in Ben Franklin: An American Life. In 1798, Congress made it illegal to criticise the government through the Sedition Act, but that was reversed in 1801.

However, it appears that now at least the perception of media bias has reached a point that it has damaged media credibility more than at any time in the past.

In 2011, Gallup Polls indicated that most Americans do not have confidence in mass media and its ability to report the news fairly.

A 60 percent majority reported bias, with 47 percent saying the slant was liberal and 13 percent saying it was conservative. Only about 36 percent of the public indicated that they believed the media reported the news fairly.

According to Gallup, since 2002 more Americans think the bias is liberal than conservative. 

Do you personally trust the media to give you the news without any bias, either liberal or conservative? What bias do you perceived in the news reporting you see - either liberal or conservative? And does this change in national versus local reporting?