The problem is the reporters’ political leanings often slip into their news coverage. More than half of nationally ranked journalists describe themselves as moderate. Eight percent admitted to being very liberal. Amy Mitchell of the Project for Excellence in Journalism says the skew is definitely to the left.

“As far as liberal versus conservatives go, there’s a heavy tilt to those describing themselves as liberal far outweigh those describing themselves as conservative.”

But do the political leanings of reporters find their way into stories? Yes, according to the survey. Mitchell says almost two-thirds of journalists conceded that the line between reporting and commentary is blurred.

“In 2007 coverage of the election campaign and the war in Iraq accounted for almost a third of all of the coverage.”

Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media says the number of self-described conservatives in the media seems even lower than six percent.

“There are very few. This is based on not only the surveys but personal experience. The fact is that conservative students tend not to go into journalism.”

He says conservative students tend to want to go into traditional professions where they can make a living and be part of the system.

“Liberal students want to change the system. They want to see journalism as a tool to accomplish that.”

The problem is when idealism clashes with facts, too many reporters stick with the former.