In all the talk about media bias, there’s been relatively little focus on the news magazines. But take a look (or better, don’t) at Newsweek’s cover story this week on stem cells. That cover is obviously Newsweek’s best effort to help Kerry. The story could have been ghost written by the Kerry campaign. U.S. News has an interesting cover story on America’s divisions. But the opening piece, on the debates, is utterly biased in favor of Kerry. Despite its obvious bias on social issues, the media used to at least make an effort to be fair on political coverage. No more. This year MSM has definitively discredited itself. If Kerry wins, the media will have been the key to tipping the balance in his favor. That’s true, despite the great success that blogs and other alternatives have had in breaking the media monopoly. I think you’ll see a substantial further weakening of MSM, post-election. But like it or not, they’ve made a real difference in this contest.