Major Network Media
There are two main groups that make up the political system in the United States, the left-wing and the right-wing. Both have very different views about how America should operate. People that support the left-wing ideas are known as liberals and/or democrats (Nicklin). The left-wing beliefs are usually promoting change and they are idealist (Nicklin). Sitting on the right-wing of our political system are republicans and/or conservatives (Nicklin). This party believes in equity and survival of the fittest (Nicklin). Many of the major networks have used their accessibility to the public in order to sway Americans towards the left-wing political agenda. This is an issue because people will actually believe the media and not have their own opinions.
Many of the major network journalists are mainly political liberals and have all of the power over the news (Foster). It is documented that Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer, and Katie Couric are all supporters of the Democratic Party. Some articles have said that “in some sense journalists have to be seen as liberals in order for the system to receive credibility” (Foster). As a supporter of the Democratic Party, it would only be natural to have a bias toward liberal views while reporting the news. Each of these news reporter are extremely influential not only in their field but also to the general American population. Along with these three “power-house” reporters are their counterparts in Hollywood California. Many celebrities such as Stephen Spielburg, Jamie Foxx, and Tyler Perry contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic National Party each year (Kurtzleben). As in many cases, the largest financial contributors are often dominate in the decisio...
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...e expenses of 12 of the largest conservative foundations have been dedicated to moving the news to the right (Foster).
Future generations must be proactive and stay abreast of current issues, reading and researching for themselves so as not to be influenced by mere opinions. Some people do not realize what the media is actually doing and how they are changing many Americans’ opinions. In order to correct this injustice of the bias of professional journalism, journalist should be strictly regulated by professional codes. The codes would ensure that journalist do not include their opinions while reporting but they will be charged with reporting true facts. Through this careful regulation, all Americans can rest assured that they can formulate their own opinions that are based on facts and make good decisions when casting their votes at the polls each year.
Media concentration allows news reporters to fall victim to source bias, commercial impulse, and pack journalism. Together, all three of the aforementioned factors become known as horse race journalism, a cause for great concern in campaign media. In complying with horse race journalism, media outlets exclude third party candidates, reinforce the idea that politics is merely a game, and dismiss issues that directly affect voters and their day to day lives. Through horse race journalism, the media is mobilized in impeding an active form of the democratic debate in American politics. Even across the wide range of human values and beliefs, it is easy to see that campaign media coverage must be changed, if not for us, then for our children. It is imperative that we discern the flaws of the media and follow our civic duty to demand better media
Fox News is constantly being bombarded with accusations of media bias, furthermore, a number of different instances of have occurred which question the validity of Fox News (Groeling). These instances occur throughout normal news broadcasts. Some of the more recent, and grossly biased broadcasts, were from the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. Historically the Fox News Channel is known to lean heavily to the right, or on the republican spectrum. President Barrack Obama’s political party is widely known to the public as being democratic. Statistically, to this day according to studies over 17 million households receive some form of the Fox News Channel (Auletta). The Fox News Channel is published through a number of different channels to its viewers. These channels include: Television, radio, newspaper, internet and more increasingly electro...
The majority of media in the United States, are owned in operated by wealthy individuals and corporations. Media also helps portray “big business” good or bad, depending on their influence, mostly due to contributions. Due to these contributions, select few have been able to manipulate and create a bias towards the contributor. Eventually free media and press evolved into the oligarchy that now “runs” our country.
Many people believe that liberal media bias is very relevant in this day in age, but really it is just a myth. Conservatives, also known as republicans, tend to forget that most of the American media is influenced heavily by corporate business owners(Schaller 49). Topics such as issues of war and peace, taxes and spending, and government regulation are heavily favorable to the conservatives. A study done by Media Matter for America shows that over sixty percent of U.S. daily newspapers publish conservative journalists rather than liberal(Schaller 49). On the other hand, it is obvious that some hot topics in the news are liberally skewed. Topics such as abortion, gay rights, religion, and gun control are pretty much the only things that have a liberal bias. Some journalists may have liberal views, but do not exploit them like conservatives and certainly their views are not as radical(Schaller
One of the major problems in the American media today is non-objective reporting which is also known as bias. This has been a trend since the early 1980?s and is very alarming for American citizens who watch the news for truth and honest reporting. Not only has bias been a problem in the broadcast media of ABC, NBC, and CBS, but it has also been a problem in mainstream newspapers such as The New York Times, The Sun, and The Boston Globe. For years, these media outlets have built their reputations on truth and now the trend is to lean left and not tell the whole story. Evidence of this has become very prominent in war coverage and election bias. Bias in the media is a big issue and causes lots of problems throughout the public such as losing trust in a once great source for news, people going elsewhere for information, being ill-informed, and leading to a low voter turnout.
According to James Madison, “nothing could be more irrational than to give the people power and to withhold from them information, without which power is abused,” suggesting that the people have the right to learn popular information and learn both sides of an issue (Paul and Elder 2). However, in modern society, the media often do not present both sides of an issue and are inclined to often mask information for their personal benefits. Therefore, the people often learn and understand only one aspect of an issue and inevitably lean towards the bias present in that news account. Indubitably, the coverage in the mainstream news media influences the majority through its bias and propaganda, especially its partisan audience, which only appreciates one side of the news story. Thus, even though news networks may claim that their news programs and publications are completely factual and credible, their coverage of news events is politically, commercially, and racially biased.
In the Beyond Borders textbook on pages 60-74 Michael Parenti’s article “Mass Media: For the Many, by the Few” goes into great detail of the few corporations that control the media and the costs of this practice. Let us first discuss what classifies as media. We have newspapers, magazines, radio, films, television, etc. Television and radio are the most dominated forms of media that are in the hands of four giant networks, which are, ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX. These media corporations not only own television networks but other forms of media, such as; cable companies, book publishing houses, movie studios, satellite television, etc. Since the broadcast industry has failed to provide adequate regulation policies the competition has decreased, and this has caused a large economic influence. The competition was supposed to lower prices, instead there has been an increase in cable rates and phone rates. In addition, media owners don’t hesitate to exercise control over news content. They frequently kill stories they dislike and in other ways inject their own preferences. In other words, they determine which person, which facts, which version of the facts, and which ideas shall reach the public. The media can also have a political influence. “Progressive candidates are not only competing against well-financed opponents but also against the media’s many frivolous distractions. It is nearly impossible for these candidates to try and run a meaningful campaign because the media will withhold their media coverage .” The few corporations can spin the media any which way. In sum, the media is ne...
Both CNN and Fox News influence these immense populations with how each utilize pathos, ethos and logos in the topics discussed during the broadcasted show. For example, Fox News 's audience seems to be primarily conservative, while CNN’s audience seem to be more liberal (Engel). So each network’s stories “focus on the issues that” conservatives or liberals “want to watch and talk about” (James). These topics are used to develop a more conservative or liberal fan base in the respective news networks. As the dominant news network on cable television, Fox News impacts the greatest quantity of citizens, bringing in an audience of over two million for primetime (James). Therefore, Fox News influences the largest percentage of Americans listening to news networks by effectively using these manipulative literary techniques. However, CNN has a younger audience than Fox News (Carter), which contributes to CNN’s audience growing from 350,000 a night, in 2013 (Agee), to 629,000 viewers a night (James). CNN and Fox News compete with each other to influence the greatest amount of people and the public’s opinion of current events. Each network appeals to pathos, logos and ethos differently and similarly to coax the greatest amount of listeners each night.
As if a thorn in his side our country today has heeded no warning against this partisanship practice, throughout our economic and social system we have in fact done just the opposite (Fiorina). Media is in particular the most blatant example of this practice in which parties have afforded no hindrance to our history and the warnings it provides. Partisan media or ‘polarized media’ has showcased our human ability to find vengeance and animosity in practically any situation or circumstance, I believe that it is the charge of every American to continuously question news its...
In America we value the freedom of the press. The press is the one place where most Americans go to get educated on issues facing their community, state, and most of all nation. Everyone knows that the media plays a major role in Americans' lives; however their role of gatekeeper is not completely understood. The press decides which issues to report and how to report them. In order to improve the nation and world, the media should present their unbiased findings to allow people to make up their own minds. However, this is not the case. The media often shows its bias. Their widespread exposure enables them to communicate their ideas to the public, regardless of the public's responsiveness. The elections of officials for the federal government during the late 20th century serve as prime examples of their bias. An analysis of surveys, media delivery, and reporter's testimonies, I have found that the media is actually more out of touch with mainstream America than the politicians they cover.
Bennett (2011) felt that one of the biggest problems with bias in the American media was its “overwhelming tendency to downplay the big social, economic, or political picture in favor of the human trials, tragedies, and triumphs (177).” Shaiko (2008) alluded to the fact that the American news media is “accountable to the corporate conglomerates” and not “to the readers, listeners, and viewers (205).” Probably the most telling quotation of all can be found in Chapter 10 of The News Media: Communicating Pol...
The media is often considered to be biased. The reason for this is because they do not act neutral on the things that they report on. They usually give their point of view and tend to warp the information so it’s easily digestible by the average person. This type of “nugget feeding,” can influence the judgment of some one who has no idea what is going on. The media tends to sensationalize the news by making it seem dramatic, and compelling. This hooks the viewer, and keeps them tuned in. The purpose of this is for ratings, and most importantly money. The media has become less professional, and their morality has gone down hill. The editors/gatekeepers decide what information is sent out for the public to see, and hear. This is another way that the news is shaped for our viewing pleasure.
The Hidden Relationship Between Government and Media Rather than being a neutral conduit for the communication of information, the U.S. media plays an intricate role in shaping and controlling political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without an adequate functioning media, it is virtually impossible for a sophisticated social structure like the U.S. Government to exist. Henceforth, all known sophisticated social structures, have always been dependent upon the media’s ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally exploits the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. Ultimately empowering the U.S. government, strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality.
The current role of mass media in politics has definitely played a significant role in how view and react to certain events and issues of the nation. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio are some of the ways information is passed onto many of the citizens. The World Wide Web is also an information superhighway, but not all of the sources on the Internet are credible. Therefore, I will only focus on the main three types of media: written, viewed, and audible, and how they affect whether or not democracy is being upheld in the land of the free. The media includes several different outlets through which people can receive information on politics, such as radio, television, advertising and mailings. When campaigning, politicians spend large quantities of money on media to reach voters, concentrating on voters who are undecided. Politicians may use television commercials, advertisements or mailings to point out potentially negative qualities in their opponents while extolling their own virtues. The media can also influence politics by deciding what news the public needs to hear. Often, there are more potential news stories available to the media than time or space to devote to them, so the media chooses the stories that are the most important and the most sensational for the public to hear. This choice can often be shaped,
Americans look to the press to provide the information they need to make informed political choices. How well the press lives up to its responsibility to provide this information has a direct impact upon Americans: how they think about and act upon the issues that confront them.