Mirza Dropic
Danita Mason
Eng Comp 102-019
8.February 2017
Does Media Have Liberal or Conservative Bias ?
The problem of liberal or conservative bias in the media is not something new. Conservatives and liberals are always accusing eachother of bias. One of the main values for mass media is liberty. Liberty is very important in mass media. The goal of Mass media is to deliver different messages to their audience. To be able to do that media must not take any sides. Mass media should provide different views about political, religious, economic or any other issue that is important for their audience. Credible media should let viewers to hear from
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Rather did not double checked the documents that he received, and he did not gave chance other side to be heard. This is just one of many examples of biases in the media. On the other side there is a well know conservative or pro-conservative Fox News and their anchor Sean Hannity who is mostly conservative bias oriented in his show. He mostly talks only with conservatives or pro-conservative politicans or other media people, and he doesn't let his viewers to hear other side of the story so they would be able to make their own conclusions. Even if some of his stories are not true, his viewers can not be aware of that because they are not able to hear both sides. Biases are also existing in a situation when there is a story and three different medias that are covering the same story. They all must use same facts, but they also use different words and leave completely different impression of what has happened on its viewers. This is a case o different biases, either they are liberal or conservative. All this examples are showing that there is a lot of biases in media. Neither of this stories can be credible because it coveres only one side and does not give a chance to his viewers to hear both sides and make their own conclusions. Credible media must be thrustworthy and …show more content…
In his text Timothy P. Carney, senior political columnist at the Washington Examiner, and a visiting proffesor at the American Enterprise Institute, argues about serious effect that liberal bias in news media has on viewers of these programs. According to him „ Clustering of left-of-center viewpoints in the newsroom leads to a cloistering, and thus reporters end up unfamiliar with the conservative viewpoints“.(Carney) He is completely right here because in everyday news programs there are a lot of examples of this. That means that we are able to see or hear only one side of the story. This is not just the case with the liberal bias, it is same thing with the conservative bias. These biases are not good for journalism, they are not good for democracy to. Carney also says „ Democracy needs a thrustworthy news media“.(Carney) Only thrustworthy and objective media can be
Bias is everywhere in the mainstream media whether it is political, celebrity, or worldwide news. Bias can misinform the public and most of the time leaves the whole story to suit their belief. Bias is when someone is presenting information or talking about a topic but being unfair and not showing the whole side of the story. Media keeps certain information to themselves to not make their belief seem bad but as a good thing. In everyday media there is some form of bias that can be small or big depending on the topic. Of course in today's society it seems that bias is okay and acceptable in the media. However people doing their job are bias and present the information to their beliefs. The public thinks they are getting the truth but media is
“The old argument that the networks and other ‘media elites’ have a liberal bias is so blatantly true that it’s hardly worth discussing anymore…No we don’t sit around in dark corners and plan strategies on how we’re going to slant the news. We don’t have to. It comes naturally to most reporters.” (Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News) This example is tremendously important in the author’s discussion because it proves that news stories do manipulate people through bias. Popular news networks are viewed by thousands of people every single day, thus making it have a huge impact on the public since they believe what they see. When news reporters present their news segments, it is natural for them to give their insights due to human nature being instinctively biased. “The news media is [sic] only objective if they report something you agree with… Then they’re objective. Otherwise they’re biased if you don’t agree, you know.” (CNN’s American Morning) In this quote, the readers are presented to current panelists agreeing that news consumers have a very hard time separating their own view of the news from the perspective of the news reporters because they are presenting their own opinions throughout their segments. This problem exists once again because of the bias that is contained in media
Although, in recent years it is seen that consumers are less likely to subscribe to newspapers and/or watch the daily news. This is due to the fact that they are typically bias in their opinions, and are seen to lack the whole story when presented. Rise in polarization in the media is due to a new found competition between news networks, which was not present sixty years ago. Wilson says, “the news we get is not only more omnipresent, it is also more competitive and hence often more adversarial”. The media outlets are fighting for views, and are willing to do whatever it takes to get them. Which leads to them configuring the stories to what people want to here. Thus making their viewer ratings higher. It is known that certain news stations get more views depending on the political party. “Those who watch CNN are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans; the reverse is emphatically true of Fox”. The media has more outlets to reach their viewers to maximize the effectiveness of their biased
Shirley Smith, or better known as Mum Shirl was born on the 22nd of November 1921 on the Erambie mission—a mission near Cowra, Central Western New South Wales. Shirl’s parents worked as drovers in a town named Grenfell. As well as this Shirl’s father was a counselor at the mission however his powers were extremely limited, such is evident in his inability to prevent Shirl’s grandfather’s expulsion from the mission when she was six. Shirl shared an extremely close bond and was heavily inspired by her Grandfather. She describes him as a calm and wise man, who had ethereal connection with the country. Following his expulsion, Shirl’s Grandfather moved to Waterloo Sydney, where his brother helped build him a three bedroom
Objectivity has nearly become nonexistent, and "For years, Americans' political press has been stuck in a fact-free model of neutrality, often covering even the most obvious lies as 'one side' of a dispute," (Introduction). The publishment of these lies and giving them the title of an argument is feigning neutrality, which fools the public into believing all the media is producing. Equal coverage has also been a major issue in media bias. For example, in this past presidential election, “the mainstream media labels a Republican candidate with a slew of phobics to paint him as an awful person, while they seem to put the Democratic candidate on a pedestal or report less harshly” (Ostmann). Determining equal coverage between the two political parties is a touchy subject, but it is apparent that Trump received the brunt of the attacks on his past then his opponent did. Even if it had been the other way around, the media should be held responsible for their devious actions. For the media, it is all about the story, which they will spend hours and hours fine tuning until they are able to fill their likes, views, and subscriptions
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
Today it seems almost impossible to get a straightforward answer on any major topic from the media. All sources of media have a specific audience that they are intending to hear or view the information that they have prepared, therefore they will cut bits and pieces out so that only the message they are trying to get across will be received. So indeed there is a media bias, and yes it more often than not slants towards the liberal view point, as many reporters and journalists have liberal views themselves.
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.
Coverage of events by the mainstream media is politically biased, due to the numerous instances when news networks support one party (either Liberal Democratic or Conservative Republican) and slant the issue in that party’s favor. For example, NBC News reported that the Affordable Care Act was “cheerleading” and viewed the law in a positive manner (Lawrence). As NBC is a major supporter of the Democratic Party, its views are obviously slanted towards liberal and supportive opinions of Obama and his policies. Moreover, this positive perspective of the law only attracts Democrats, and it masks the other perspective involving the detriments of that law, showing presence of propaganda, instilling liberal viewpoints in its unsuspecting audience. In contrast t...
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 article “Why Americans Hate the Media” takes a look at how the media has taken their journalistic duties to another level that does not promote the ideas and questions that the American citizens whom the journalist report to are concerned about. The media has found a way to keep their ratings and the hype of politics alive by sensationalizing hot-bed issues. In the article “Why Americans Hate the Media” written by James Fallows it states that “Perhaps the public has good reason to think that the media’s self-aggrandizement gets in the way of solving the countries real problems” (Fallows) which leads to the fact that, although the media knows that they are skipping over the American citizens view and sending their own message, but somehow
There for we say yes, media can have a sizeable political impact, especially when a politician controls a substantial share of the media. Media is therefore bad for democracy. Stated throughout this paper is the level of bias that is displayed in the media. This level of bias sways the public far right or far left. Their decisions are based on a political point of view.
The basic concept of media bias itself is reasonably simple, but proving it is a bit more complex. Bias relates to different people's perceptions - it would be fair to say, "media bias is in the eye of the beholder”. The fact that viewpoint (and the possible biased views) of the reader or viewer might lead them to suspect bias exists where there is none should also be taken into account. All the articles that I found all said that yes, in fact the media was bias and there was no lack of evidence to support it. We also have to remember that this could be because the people who wrote the articles were trying to prove that a certain media bias existed and that if someone were to look for articles that proved the media was not bias then the same thing would happen.
As Americans we take pride in our liberating government. But, it is essential to ask how much we, the general public, know about our democracy. Because of the representative structure of our government, it is in our best interest to remain as knowledgeable as possible about political affairs so that we can play an active role in our democracy by voting for candidates and issues. The media, which includes print, television, and the internet, is our primary link to political events and issues. (For the purposes of this essay only print and television will be considered.) Therefore, in order to assess the success of our democracy it is necessary to assess the soundness of our media. We are lucky enough to have a media, in theory, free from government influences because of our rights to freedom of press and freedom of speech, but we are still subject to the media’s interpretation and presentation of politics, as is the danger when depending on any source for information. So, we must address how the media informs us; how successful it is at doing so; and how we should respond to it.
The purpose of journalism is to report a story accurately; simply to tell it like it is. Over the past two decades, with increased tension over political and religious ideologies, the media’s original purpose is being lost. Yes, being well-informed remains an asset in the world today. Our now, globally-focused world will always value knowledge and awareness. With the television, internet, newspaper- all mediums of entertainment- available at the snap of a finger, we have non-stop access to news. One problem with this is the blatant bias of news networks. Every news source has a bias. Viewers typically recognize the platform of the major sources, therefore deterring them from certain networks. When reporters feed viewers the same opinion through different stories, the viewer isn’t getting a balanced intake in terms of overall understanding. In today’s society, viewers are truly at the mercy of what those in authority provide. Think of George Orwell’s 1984 where the all-powerful “Big Brother,” through “The Party” oversees every little piece of information that passes through the telescreen (along with everything that passes by the telescreen on the other end.) The citizens of Oceania are essentially clueless to the truth because they have no access to it. The television: typically a source of entertainment, transformed itself into an instrument for controlling. Yes, the modern technology is