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South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias
For the better part of 30 years, liberal bias has dominated mainstream media. But author and political journalist Brian Anderson reveals in his new book that the era of liberal dominance is going the way of the dodo bird.
191 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 6, 2008
If I could give this book negative stars, I would. It includes a completely unfair assessment of my introduction to American history class, based on what I can only assume is a cursory reading of my on-line syllabus. Somehow, the author concludes from the fact that I actually acknowledge the existence of Native American history that I do not believe in truth, etc. etc. It would be funny if it weren't such a sad commentary on our present public discourse.
April 5, 2011
I've been a big fan of South Park for years - their brand of irreverent foul-mouthed humor hits a nerve with me I guess. However, I never really thought of that cartoon as a particularly pointed political satire. Maybe because I generally agreed with most of what they had to say, so it did not seem that they were going out on a limb with their message. Then some months ago I got an e-mail from a friend that linked to the original article that coined the term "South Park Republicans." That article claimed that a new brand of conservatism is growing, especially among the younger generation. It had very little to do with the preppy, staid attitudes that were the norm of conservatives just a generation ago. Suddenly, things made a lot of sense. Although the Creators of "South Park" spare no one from their ridicule, and they don't seem to have a single coherent political agenda, with a help of hindsight it is easy to see that they have an especially low regard for the lefty activist types.
Brian C. Anderson's book is not only, nor even primarily, about "South Park". And that is a good thing. When I first bought the book I was a bit apprehensive that it might get boring after a while. After all, how much can you really write about one particular aspect of one cartoon series? Luckily, Anderson focuses mostly on the subtitle of the book, and in a very detailed and well researched exposition demonstrates how the rise of new media outlets is evening the field for the conservatives. "South Park Conservatives" is a very well written book, and an invaluable resource and a reference for other sources of conservative opinion.
Brian C. Anderson's book is not only, nor even primarily, about "South Park". And that is a good thing. When I first bought the book I was a bit apprehensive that it might get boring after a while. After all, how much can you really write about one particular aspect of one cartoon series? Luckily, Anderson focuses mostly on the subtitle of the book, and in a very detailed and well researched exposition demonstrates how the rise of new media outlets is evening the field for the conservatives. "South Park Conservatives" is a very well written book, and an invaluable resource and a reference for other sources of conservative opinion.
September 19, 2020
South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias chronicles the breaking of the liberal monopoly on news media. Political journalist Brian Anderson examines the rise of conservative media beginning with talk radio, and continuing on into cable news, book publishing, and the internet. But more than that, Anderson argues that these new outlets have enabled conservatives to check and expose liberal biases and cover ups, such as Dan Rather’s faking of documents about President George W. Bush and the ignoring of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Furthermore, he believes that a generation of “South Park Conservatives,” who are rejecting the liberal PC culture, is emerging. Anderson’s analysis is rather astute and he makes some fairly convincing arguments; though they’re not particularly original. An interesting retrospective, South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias provides a comprehensive account of how conservatives broke through the liberal media monopoly and invigorated political debate.
October 6, 2012
Great book, even though South Park creators didn't like it
October 14, 2024
Review from a south park liberal
As a die-hard fan of south park and a liberal, I was amazed by the term south park conservatives, as I never feel south park particularly partisan. It mocks extreme wings of both left and right. I guess everyone sees themselves in south park. The producers Matt and Trey are libertarians. In their 2010 interview with Huffington Post, they actually commented on this book, saying "people trying to claim the show, It’s all based on saying the shocking thing." And the reason for them to mock liberal more is:
" Ripping on Republicans is not that fun for us only because everyone else does it, It’s so much more fun for us to rip on liberals only because nobody else does it, and not because we think liberals are worse than Republicans but, just because...it’s like fresh snow. I mean how’re you gonna rip on Sarah Palin in a new way?
“I think sometimes we do gravitate towards things other people haven’t done and a lot of times that makes us gravitate away from ripping on Republicans cause it’s just done very well by a ton of people. It’s hard to compete with Jon Stewart"
Enough about the south park, now let's talk about the book. The book is basically about the media in the conservative movement, plus a chapter about the same movement in college campus, which is odd and has little to do with media. The book gives an account of how radio talk show, conservative TV channel (FOX in particular), Internet media, and publishing business help to propel the conservative movement and break the monopoly of "Liberal mainstream media". It is filled with bitter, partisan languages and anecdotal. It is satisfying to read the book to vindicate your existing view on liberal bias in mainstream media and the rising balancing forces-right leaning media, if you are a conservative.
However, the book is not a "fair and balanced" demonstration of the liberal bias, not that I deny or claim that I have a good understanding of media liberal bias. The first two chapters dedicated to this topic failed in several accounts. First the anecdotal evidences of liberal bias are mostly from the eyes of conservatives. Second, I don't see the evidences to suggest journalists' personal liberal affiliation really leads to systemic liberal bias in their work. Last, the bashing of the liberalism is unfair. A lot of liberal's behaviors/words criticized in the book are politician's talk in an election. It merely reflect the partisanship, which both conservatives and liberals share under such environment.
I also senses author's joy with personal vendetta when he describes how conservative media rises. The fact that he doesn't reflect on any suggestion, from liberal and independent, that many of those conservative media are much more biased and unbalanced than their liberal counterpart, is not helping his course, either. Even if we have a liberal bias in the mainstream media, the way to counter that is not to have biased conservative media.
Having said that, couple of points made in the book intrigued me. For one, why does conservative dominate talk radio? Lack of talents from liberals or the liberalism is not fun, as suggested in the book, is certainly not true. Look at how successful Jon Steward and Steven Colbert are. Liberals now dominates comedy talk show. So it has to have something to do with the audience. Conservatives like radios and liberals like talk show, maybe?
Having different view points is generally healthy for the whole society, as long as everyone is open-minded and not let political differences sink into personal confrontation. It is easy said than done. As a liberal, I still find offensive in such partisan book. I do want to find out if there is truly a liberal bias in the media. I don't think this book convinces me there is.
As a die-hard fan of south park and a liberal, I was amazed by the term south park conservatives, as I never feel south park particularly partisan. It mocks extreme wings of both left and right. I guess everyone sees themselves in south park. The producers Matt and Trey are libertarians. In their 2010 interview with Huffington Post, they actually commented on this book, saying "people trying to claim the show, It’s all based on saying the shocking thing." And the reason for them to mock liberal more is:
" Ripping on Republicans is not that fun for us only because everyone else does it, It’s so much more fun for us to rip on liberals only because nobody else does it, and not because we think liberals are worse than Republicans but, just because...it’s like fresh snow. I mean how’re you gonna rip on Sarah Palin in a new way?
“I think sometimes we do gravitate towards things other people haven’t done and a lot of times that makes us gravitate away from ripping on Republicans cause it’s just done very well by a ton of people. It’s hard to compete with Jon Stewart"
Enough about the south park, now let's talk about the book. The book is basically about the media in the conservative movement, plus a chapter about the same movement in college campus, which is odd and has little to do with media. The book gives an account of how radio talk show, conservative TV channel (FOX in particular), Internet media, and publishing business help to propel the conservative movement and break the monopoly of "Liberal mainstream media". It is filled with bitter, partisan languages and anecdotal. It is satisfying to read the book to vindicate your existing view on liberal bias in mainstream media and the rising balancing forces-right leaning media, if you are a conservative.
However, the book is not a "fair and balanced" demonstration of the liberal bias, not that I deny or claim that I have a good understanding of media liberal bias. The first two chapters dedicated to this topic failed in several accounts. First the anecdotal evidences of liberal bias are mostly from the eyes of conservatives. Second, I don't see the evidences to suggest journalists' personal liberal affiliation really leads to systemic liberal bias in their work. Last, the bashing of the liberalism is unfair. A lot of liberal's behaviors/words criticized in the book are politician's talk in an election. It merely reflect the partisanship, which both conservatives and liberals share under such environment.
I also senses author's joy with personal vendetta when he describes how conservative media rises. The fact that he doesn't reflect on any suggestion, from liberal and independent, that many of those conservative media are much more biased and unbalanced than their liberal counterpart, is not helping his course, either. Even if we have a liberal bias in the mainstream media, the way to counter that is not to have biased conservative media.
Having said that, couple of points made in the book intrigued me. For one, why does conservative dominate talk radio? Lack of talents from liberals or the liberalism is not fun, as suggested in the book, is certainly not true. Look at how successful Jon Steward and Steven Colbert are. Liberals now dominates comedy talk show. So it has to have something to do with the audience. Conservatives like radios and liberals like talk show, maybe?
Having different view points is generally healthy for the whole society, as long as everyone is open-minded and not let political differences sink into personal confrontation. It is easy said than done. As a liberal, I still find offensive in such partisan book. I do want to find out if there is truly a liberal bias in the media. I don't think this book convinces me there is.
August 17, 2025
While this book is COMPLETELY biased (I usually avoid books like this), it was interesting, and I did learn some things in retrospect. It gave me some perspective in terms of how the internet, cable, talk radio, and publishing has put the conservative influence in America. It was also interesting in one part the author pointed out college were becoming more conservative compared previous years. That was true as far as young white males are concerned.
February 4, 2022
There's an interesting idea for a book somewhere here, but not in this author's hands.
It was written in 2005, so a lot of the references are dated. However, his admiring quotes of Gavin McInnes tell you exactly the kind of opportunist that produced this whiny drek.
It was written in 2005, so a lot of the references are dated. However, his admiring quotes of Gavin McInnes tell you exactly the kind of opportunist that produced this whiny drek.
Read
July 24, 2025Save your money and your time by watching Fox News instead of reading this book -- you'll get the same "boo-hoo angry disenfranchised white men" rant. The use of the term "South Park" drew me to the book, and I was severely disappointed.
January 23, 2026
This came up on a recommendation list and I did not read much as I found it to be a waste of my time. A boring read dressed up to be something worthy of recognition as literature.
March 13, 2012
An up and down work
I will admit, the title of South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias got my attention and it was the reason that I picked it up. For the record, I am not a big fan of South Park, but I could see where he might go with it based on my limited exposure to the series (I've seen maybe 10 episodes of the show).
I was not disappointed with the "South Park" section of the book. However, that is only a small section of the book. The first 1/3 or so is your traditional "Look how they are slandering us in the media!" finger-pointing exercise that both Liberals and Conservatives use in their books. While useful for setting up the rest of his book, I could have done without it. I've been there, done that and, frankly, I am tired of it.
The middle part, the part concerning Conservative comedy, such as South Park, Dennis Miller and Colin Quinn was very good...
Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/...
I will admit, the title of South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias got my attention and it was the reason that I picked it up. For the record, I am not a big fan of South Park, but I could see where he might go with it based on my limited exposure to the series (I've seen maybe 10 episodes of the show).
I was not disappointed with the "South Park" section of the book. However, that is only a small section of the book. The first 1/3 or so is your traditional "Look how they are slandering us in the media!" finger-pointing exercise that both Liberals and Conservatives use in their books. While useful for setting up the rest of his book, I could have done without it. I've been there, done that and, frankly, I am tired of it.
The middle part, the part concerning Conservative comedy, such as South Park, Dennis Miller and Colin Quinn was very good...
Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/...
Want to Read
July 11, 2012couldn't get into this one. at first i was put off that the author kept citing blogs, but i guess if your thesis states that the popular news media is biased, you can't cite the popular news media to make your entire argument. tricky, that one. i might pick it up again later, though.
December 28, 2009
Explained much. Although, South Park is too much for me.
November 23, 2015
i never cared about the show until i read the book.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews