Media Bias

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Journalists and media outlets are aware that they are presenting news for an audience. There are a number of reasons why bias exists in the news. One of the main reasons is sensitivity to advertisers where news outlets get much of their profits to pay themselves and employees. Sometimes news outlets have to align themselves with the advertisers and present them in a positive light. There’s also the sensitivity to the power of government. First there’s a law where news media are licensed and regulated by the government. Second, national breaking news is given tot news media by high governmental officials and agencies, and news media personnel don’t want to jeopardize that relationship. At the end, news media outlets are focused on profit and …show more content…

News outlets typically ignore, underreport, or bury news that doesn’t conform to the dominant cultural viewpoint. For example, when there’s war, each side tells their story of the conflict and highlights the enemy’s faults, while hiding or minimizing their own faults. Bias by omission can occur either within a story, or over the long term as a particular news outlet reports one set of events, but not another. There’s also a bias in the sources that are used by media outlets. Although the media relies on ‘government officials’, the media must broaden their range of sources including public interests, minority voices, or progressive. The lack of diversity is also holding back news outlets; where there’s an opportunity to represent different communities and have them in decision-making positions. The language used by media outlets is very powerful. The language used can in effect give people an impression of an issue, program, or community, which can be damaging if you don’t have the critical thinking skill. I can understand, since it’s very difficult to consciously use neutral language and we’ve all been guilty of biased word choices. Everyone has his or her own unique worldview and that’s how we express ourselves. The only problem is when writers use biased word choice and pretend to be objective about their viewpoint and not being open about it. Critical thinking and

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