Media Bias In Criminal Justice

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Media is an important tool in today's society, it is how many people get their information and stay up to date with what is going on in the world. Not surprisingly though, the media has become increasingly picky with how it presents its information throughout recent years. This is called media bias; it is when a media source guides its readers to agree with the article they are reading or the news they are watching. Media bias is used to keep readers engaged with the story (for mostly money-related purposes), but that does not change the fact that media bias is dangerous to the people and the world they live in. Throughout history, instead of using factual representation of people going through the criminal justice system and its reform, mass …show more content…

How the media portrays people who have been convicted is also a huge problem. They use terms like “convicted,” “inmate,” or “criminal” without including the words “person,” or “people” which rehumanize the person being talked about. The media often does not realize what those words alone are doing, but portraying someone as poorly as the media is, cannot possibly be an accident (Elderbloom). According to a selection of surveys done by the People First Narrative, the way that people see convicted people is in such a horrible way that “many never leave prisons and they die as ‘inmates’” (Towns). Even though the media tries its best to seem impartial, “complete objectivity is impossible” because “interests interfere with how an event is reported” (“Media Bias”). Without knowing, readers and “consumers are more likely to trust news sources that reinforce their political beliefs” (“Media Bias”). Media tries too hard to make readers engaged for its benefit, and in the end, it’s hurtful to the people involved. Media outlets have shown negative impacts on public involvement in the criminal justice

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