December 1997: Think Tanks and the Public Policy Process

Bruce DuMont is host of Beyond the Beltway, a nationally syndicated radio program, and a veteran political analyst.

In last month's Heartlander, I attempted to summarize in a single sentence Bruce DuMont's speech at Heartland's Thirteenth Anniversary Benefit and Dinner. Having now obtained the text of that speech, I realize that I committed a great injustice against Mr. DuMont. Reprinted below is an excerpt of Mr. DuMont's very witty and insightful speech. I think you will enjoy it.

-- Joseph L. Bast,
President

P.S. As of December 2, still no response from New York Times reporter John H. Cushman Jr. to my October 31 letter.

I am honored to be with you tonight in this arena of ideas and free thinking. It is with great pleasure that I speak to you about an issue that is dear to my heart, and hopefully yours: the roles of the media and think tanks in America today.

In so doing, I will attempt to debunk a popular and deep-seated myth and create a long-deserved legend. I must admit to you now that I assume in my argument what some might think of as itself a pernicious belief--that full freedom requires debate, and that ideas, like any other product, comport to the same laws of supply and demand as any other good.

The Myth of Media Bias

First, let us begin with the myth. Conservatives cling predictably, and mysteriously in my mind, to a tired notion they trot out like a prize-winning steed come election time. In fact, this notion is no more than an old, haggard cart mare, broken from years of hard riding and showing the lack of dutiful attention it sorely needs. Granted it fills the coffers of the party and feeds a core constituency--but it is of little merit and less mind.

I am, of course, referring to the notion that the press is irresponsible; that the press doesn't serve the American people's true needs or desires; that the press is liberal, biased, and decidedly un- American; that the fourth estate is more a third-rate hovel and that to overcome its deficiencies, we should all tune out and turn off. The theory, wrongly I believe, is that silence itself blares more loudly the truth than current coverage.

Now it is true that many American journalists are themselves liberal. A recent study by the Freedom Forum found widespread support for President Clinton's election and re-election effort. And it may in fact be true that many of them are irresponsible. But it is decidedly untrue that the media leaves the American people wanting, that it does a disservice to the American people by leaving them un-informed, or worse yet, ill-informed.

The Media as a Market

Since all markets must, in the long run, respond to consumer demand, the claim of media bias assumes that the listening and viewing public wants left-of-center commentary. But that doesn't feel right (if you will pardon the pun), and I think my colleague Rush Limbaugh and others might be willing to attest that there appears to exist a demand for conservative ideas. Now that is just a hunch . . .

A second possibility is that the listening and viewing public is neutral, but there actually is no news which is neutral. That is, all ideas, initiatives, or social issues are themselves the product of spin, and therefore inherently biased. In that case, we might think of the market as yielding what is most abundant. Yet this rationale really only serves to indicate that there is a sufficient supply of liberal ideas, not that the market is failing to meet consumer demand.

So, we are left with a third and final possibility: that the market really works! Already I see the folks from The University of Chicago nodding approvingly.

What the Public Really Wants

Yes, my Classically trained friends, "Praise be to Adam Smith!" It is my position that maybe, just maybe, the media market in fact reflects demand: that it supplies exactly what is demanded, and what is demanded is a little bit of everything, appearing to those on the right as far too left, and vice versa.

So it is Jenny Jones and Peter Jennings; Seinfeld and C-SPAN; high journalism and low; left and right. And for those who appreciate statistics, in the final analysis it is a mean which represents very few specific individuals, but allows for a variance that includes everyone.

Staying with the analogy, consumer demand is felt in both straight sales of newspapers and magazines, as well as advertising sales which are dictated by ratings. To appeal to either, the media, whatever the medium, must answer to the consumer. It must entertain, educate, elucidate, and most importantly, mediate.

Who, what, where, when, how, and why? Because each of us asks these questions, in differing ways about our lives, our cities, our neighbors, and our authorities, we see the same firms advertise on the Super Bowl, Ellen, and Meet the Press.

The Role of Think Tanks

The press does not perform this function in a vacuum. After all, there are always news makers acting, reacting, or in some way attracting attention to an issue or concern. And so, the theory goes, if they are interested in this "news," then others probably are also. Not because of the personality, necessarily, but because the issue may impact them.

Because it does not exist in a vacuum, the press draws on many other institutions in addressing the proper scope of those questions and answers to which the American public deserves to turn its attention. Government, academe, Hollywood, sports, and perhaps most importantly, think tanks, are among those sources of critical judgment to which the media turn most often, and naturally.

The role of this last institution is perhaps the least lauded, but I honestly believe, the most necessary of all. More than simple spin doctors or out-of-work Ph.D.s, these groups act as the engine of analysis in our pluralistic society, laboring in the monastic tradition over arcane concerns and shades of gray which would make even the most attentive and sympathetic eye gloss over. And yet they do it--and we are all better for it.

Perhaps that was a touch thick--a bit, as they say, too much paint on the brush. But in all candor, Adam Smith is still exactly right.

Each think tank and each thinker in each think tank is attending to its comparative advantage, producing that which it can and deferring on that which it cannot until we find ideas on every subject are in abundance.

I would suggest that this is not by coincidence but equates to the demand for this information we find in contemporary society. In the mix of this marketplace we find the left, the right, and the correct . . . I mean, the libertarian.

And so we see the role of think tanks as the suppliers of questions and answers in our marketplace of ideas, constructing mental widgets as fast as the public mind can deconstruct and absorb them.

A New Legend?

My analysis suggests a role for the press similar to the legendary Lone Ranger, confronting the bandits of our contemporary high-plains. But at its side we find the brave and faithful companion Tonto, that is . . . think tanks.

Through an expression of slightly longer social soliloquy than I think Tonto would have been comfortable with, think tanks inform the debate, reminding the press and the public of those ideals which identify us as a nation and bind us as a people.

By re-focusing our attention to those questions which transcend any one position in society, think tanks such as the Heartland and Cato Institutes rekindle our interest in one another, in society, and in our aggregate desire for meaningful freedom. By their own example, think tanks confirm the civic duty of the press and the people.

Might we, then, think a lack of voter turn-out to be due to a lack of faith in the marketplace of ideas? Do falling ratings in news and increased ratings in television mind-candy indicate that the public has soured on the market's ability to provide meaningful ideas? And if so, what can be done to restore this market?

The ongoing vigilance of America's think tanks, along with an irascible press, shall answer these questions, and many others not yet asked.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here this evening!