> But I don't feel like I should be obligated to complain when the media behaves in a fashion that I feel is appropriate, just to appease this both-sidesism.

You're saying that you want the media to be a political instrument, but you want to make sure it's a political instrument used only by the party you prefer?

Because the alternative wouldn't be "it should be used by both sides", the alternative would be "it shouldn't be a political instrument".