NOTES: 1. The list below can be multiplied ten times if the older definition of "conservative" is the one that prevails. 2. The list excludes senators and members of Congress. 3. The list is uneven (some below are regular television or radio personalities; others appear only in print; still others are "specialists" in certain fields, such as cultural commentary or military strategy or finance). 4. Only well-known, self-described "conservatives" are included; there are surely legions of lesser-known partisans in the country. 5. A simple enumeration of names doesn't take into account the intensity and rigidity of points of view or the frequency with which the pundit appears in the major dailies or on the tube. 6. While fairly long, the list should not divert the mind too much from more important facets of electronic and print media (e.g., ownership and advertising, the cumulative effect of the audiovisual medium on sensory perception and habits of thought, &c.).

Elliot Abrams Kenneth Adelman Gary Aldrich Fred Barnes Michael Barone Robert Bartley Gary Bauer Tom Bethell Tony Blankley Linda Bowles L. Brent Bozell Richard Brookhiser David Brooks Tony Brown Bay Buchanan Pat Buchanan William Bennett Linda Bowles William F. Buckley, Jr. Tucker Carlson Mona Charen Steve Chapman Linda Chavez Lynn Cheney Ward Connerly Ann Coulter Blanquita Cullum Dinesh D'Souza Midge Decter Joe DiGenova James Dobson Lawrence Eagleburger Larry Elder Jerry Falwell Andrew Ferguson Suzanne Fields Kelly Ann Fitzpatrick Malcolm "Steve" Forbes, Jr. David Frum John Fund Frank Gaffney Maggie Gallagher Rich Galen David Gergen Paul Gigot George Gilder James Glassman Bernard Goldberg Jonah Goldberg Bob Grant Ken Hamblin Sean Hannity David Horowitz Britt Hume Laura Ingraham Reed Irvine Terry Jeffries Don Imus Jack Kelly Michael Kelly Jack Kemp Alan Keyes James Kilpatrick Jeanne Kirkpatrick Henry Kissinger Morton Kondracke Charles Krauthammer Bill Kristol Lawrence Kudlow Donald Lambo Michael Ledeen Ernest Lefever Mark Levin Rush Limbaugh Gordon Liddy Glenn Loury Rich Lowry Frank Luntz Michelle Malkin Mary Matalin John McLaughlin Michael Medved Susan Molinari Peggy Noonan Oliver North Robert Novak Kate O'Beirne Bill O'Reilly Norman Ornstein P.J. O'Rourke Kathleen Parker Richard Pearle Howard Phillips James Pinkerton Daniel Pipes John Podhoretz Norman Podhoretz Richard Poe Dennis Prager Wes Pruden Ronald Radosh Michael Reagan Ralph Reed Pat Robertson Abe Rosenthal William Rukeyser William Safire Robert Samuelson Debra Saunders Phyllis Schlafly Laura Schlessinger Brent Scowcroft Alan Simpson Tony Snow Joseph Sobran Thomas Sowell John Stossel Andrew Sullivan Cal Thomas R. Emmett Tyrell Ben Wattenberg Caspar Weinberger George Will Armstrong Williams Walter Williams

Criticism:

In "Liberal Media? No Such Thing" (December 19, 2003), author Richard Poe writes the following:

"The notion that U.S. mass media lean left is a myth, says cyber-philosopher Tim Ruggiero of PhilosophicalSociety.com. Ruggiero writes:

Of all the fatuities that are circulated regularly about the major media, the one about `liberal bias' is clearly the most tenacious, and perhaps the least extinguishable. One hears it over and over, year in and year out, from talking-head pundits no less than from anxious citizens. Whole research institutes exist to expose and root out the malignancy...

Mr. Ruggiero seeks to disprove the existence of the 'liberal media' by, among other things, pointing out what he calls, 'the obvious fact that the nation's airwaves and op-ed pages are full of self-described 'conservatives'...

Now here's where it gets funny. Follow Mr. Ruggiero's link to 'Self-Described Conservatives In Media,' and you will find a list of 125 people, of whom Ruggiero says, 'Only well-known, self-described conservatives are included [in the list]; there are surely legions of lesser-known partisans in the country.'

To be sure, some names on Mr. Ruggiero's list are prominent, among them Pat Buchanan, William F. Buckley, Jr., Pat Robertson, P.J. O'Rourke, Oliver North and so on. But others are quite obscure -- mine, for instance.

Yes, Mr. Ruggiero honors me with inclusion in his rogue's gallery of 'well-known' media conservatives -- people whose very existence disproves the 'myth' of leftwing media bias. How ironic. With the exception of one appearance on PBS to discuss my book Black Spark, White Fire with Tony Brown -- I cannot recall any instance when I was interviewed on any of the top broadcast television networks. I appear only occasionally on talk radio. And, with rare exceptions, my articles are published only on the Internet.

Shall I assume that a desperate Mr. Ruggiero resorted to scraping the bottom of the barrel in order to amass enough names of 'well-known' media conservatives to prove his point? Or have I slowly and stealthily -- and without even realizing it -- actually risen to a degree of prominence that justifies placing my name in the company of Pat Buchanan, William F. Buckley, Jr. and others of like stature?

I fear it is the former."

A Reply:

I had seen several of Mr. Poe's columns at FrontPageMagazine.com prior to compiling the list. He's not as well known, of course, as commentators such as Buchanan, Buckley et al., and I applaud his humility in pointing this out. No great effort was needed, however, to amass the more than 100 names above: anyone paying attention to radio, television, and print media on any given week can surely tally up as many names. Mr. Poe might have thus given me the benefit of the doubt and not assumed insidious intent.

He says nothing at all about the thesis of my article. I'd encourage readers to re-examine it, explore the links below, and then decide whether I've missed the mark.

-- Tim Ruggiero

Media Giants Media Concentration & Diversity Thoughts On Media