Why do they dread that depiction? (I don't think it's just about access. The best explanation is that poor journalists are afraid of the right propaganda machine calling them biased.)
Sports journalists report on the Cleveland Browns and they write articles saying the Browns are a bad team. And they don't worry about getting called biased. The Browns are bad. So say it: the Browns are a bad team and other teams are good teams.
Why can't political journalists say the same thing? The GOP is corrupt and autocratic and doesn't care about poor people. The Democrats care about helping people and the social safety net and Obama was one of the most ethical presidents ever.
It's just a tautology -- to get exactly even coverage, you must have two sides or teams that are totally equal. If there is any unbalance in reality, you're going to get unbalance in reporting. It's obvious. Why can't journalists just SAY THAT? Why can't they report the truth, even when the truth about the parties is unbalanced?
(That's why Lakoff talks about "protecting the truth"
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