You have to give mainstream journalists credit. No matter how high the evidence of liberal bias stacks up, they stick to the notion they don’t play favorites.

Rathergate? An aberration. A Washington Post ombudsman admitting journalists favored Sen. Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election? Nothing but reporters chasing down history in the making.

Press blackouts on the Van Jones controversy? Oops, we missed it.

The New Black Panther case? Not enough reporters to cover it.

Ezra Klein, JournoList founder

Poll after poll after poll revealing journalists vote for Democrats over Republicans by a wide margin? Doesn’t matter, since they don’t bring their political impulses to bear on their work.

Meanwhile, the public’s faith in the media continues to plummet. And the one cable news outlet with enough reporters – and curiosity – to cover subjects like Jones and the New Black Panther Party, Fox News, continues to see its ratings soar.

Just what will it take to make journalists open their eyes to the inequalities within their profession?

Enter the Journolist scandal. Finally, reporters across the country could see how scribes from both liberal and mainstream outlets discussed how to twist the news narrative like a pretzel to help the Democratic party and paint the opposition as racist without a shred of proof.

Not exactly.

The same old “nothing to see here, folks” reportage followed the drip-drip-drip reports by The Daily Caller.

Some MSM outlets simply ignored the scandal. Others rallied to minimize it. Type “journolist” into CNN.com and you’ll get only one link to a video clip on the subject with media critic Howard Kurtz.

The most partisan, incendiary stuff… comes from people in the opinion business, not beat reporters.” Kurtz said before adding Sarah Palin pounced on the leaks for her latest talking point rather than feeling her outrage. Kurtz also used the words of the list’s founder, Ezra Klein, to end his CNN segment and wipe away any fears the public might have regarding the list.

NBC’s Chuck Todd complained about Journolist in a piece written by Politico, making it appear like he was genuinely concerned about bias in his own industry. Far from it. Todd later clarified his comments to a Washington Post blogger, saying the Right’s use of the scandal was more egregious than the scandal itself.

And then there’s faux conservative Kathleen Parker. She used her latest column to defend her new best buddies in the MSM. Better get ready for another Pulitzer in 2011, Kathleen. You’re earning it.

If email lists spelling out the best way to protect a presidential candidate aren’t enough to convince reporters their profession has hit the skids, then not even a “Network” style rant on national television apologizing for years of bias would make them sing a different tune.