Social scientist Linda Lichter was critical of the media

Published 4:00 am Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Linda Lichter, 53, a social scientist who helped lead a research institute that studies the news and entertainment media, and whose book “The Media Elite” found a wide audience for its depiction of journalists and liberal bias, died Jan. 10 at her home in Rockville, Md.

The cause of death was not immediately given.

In 1984, Lichter and her social scientist husband, S. Robert Lichter, founded the Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington.

Linda Lichter co-wrote several books arguing that evidence pointed to overwhelmingly liberal political leanings and religious secularism emanating from leading practitioners of journalism and TV entertainment.

These elite image-shapers were far to the left of Americans generally, wrote Lichter, who often collaborated with her husband and the social scientist Stanley Rothman.

Their best-known book, “The Media Elite” (1986), said the liberal tilt can affect coverage unconsciously. The authors focused on case studies of issues such as the energy crisis of the 1970s, nuclear power and busing to foster racial integration in schools.

The book became widely cited but was harshly criticized by media leaders, including then-Washington Post executive editor Benjamin Bradlee and Michael Kinsley of the New Republic.