There is a definite conservative flavor in the Media Research Center's commentary, but it is neither excessive nor out of place. My favorite section found egregiously bad stories and stories that provided two divergent viewpoints from one media outlet in a short period of time. This was the Notable Quotables section (index). Once a year, particularly bad reporting is voted into the "best of" collection by a panel of judges. (You can see the 1996 issue here)

The site provides a welcome sense of humor, with facetious headlines like "Defend Yourself, Black Conservative Race Traitor" and "What Coffee Tapes Prove: Clinton Combines Best of Carter, Reagan." The "best of" collections have traditional categories, including the "Freddy Krueger Award" (for nasty campaigning) and the "Which Way Is It?" award for confused reporting. In 1996, ABC News was one recipient of the latter for reporting that 330,000 people earned the minimum wage -- then issuing another news report (apparently without reference to the first) claiming a figure of 9.7 million.

What separates these criticisms from others found on the web is that these rely almost entirely on direct quotes, with a minimum of explanation. Direct quotes from national television are not easy to refute -- the evidence is right there on videotape. They are also much harder to gather, which is why most media critics add a generous helping of their own ideas to fill out what would otherwise be short reports. The Media Research Center solves this problem with a dedicated staff of media analysts who scour the airwaves for revealing quotes. Thanks to their tireless work, those who deny the liberal bias of the media have a lot of explaining to do.

One last note: The Media Research Center passes up fancy Web gadgets in favor of a simple design that looks good even without images -- welcome news to those who, like me, often surf with "Auto Load Images" turned off.