Research Proposal for a Paper, “Does Media Bias Distorts an American Mind”
Overview of the project: Within the large topic of Media Bias in the United States what happens when our view of the world is filtered through the eyes, ears, and minds of the media professionals (journalists) whether it is TV news (CNN of FOX) or publication periodicals (USA Today or Washington Post)?
Media bias in the United States occurs when the US media systematically makes reporting in a way that crosses standards of professional journalism. Unlike other countries, which are run by dictatorships, where instead of media bias recipients get media censorships, claims of media bias in the United States include liberal bias, conservative bias, mainstream bias,
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The bias is usually a unilateral pre-selection of a topic and often by the type of coverage in the mass media. This creates a distorted perception of the viewer. The demand for objectivity and neutrality of the media comes naturally. I will show that media bias can be of many types:
Omission – leaving one side out of an article or a series of articles over a period of time...
Selection of Sources – including more sources that support one view over another...
Story Selection – a pattern of highlighting news stories that support one side of an issue over another…
Placement – the location in the paper or article where a story or event is printed; a pattern of placing news stories so as to downplay information supportive of one side…
Labeling – comes in two forms: 1. Tagging of person from one party or group with extreme labels while leaving the other side unlabeled or with more mild labels. 2. A reporter not only fails to identify a liberal or conservative as such, but also describes the person or group with positive labels, such as “an expert” or “independent consumer
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
Let’s start by taking a look at the bias side of electronic media. Take for instance the difference between Fox News and CBS. Both are news stations, both are intended to bring us the news, yet the way in which each station presents its stories to their viewers could not be more different. Few would argue the fact that Fox news appeals to the conservative audience while a station such as CBS would tend to be more liberal. This creates bias. To illustrate my point, let us take a look at how these 2 news stations covered the very same story in completely different ways.
All pieces of information, unless hard fact, are biased. Bias may arise intentionally or not, but either way it is imperative that readers, watchers, and listeners are aware when they come in contact with media bias. Although it is unrealistic for the media to be completely objective in every issue they cover, media bias is a prevalent issue in the world today, and will continue on unless consumers of the media become truly educated about the world and its events. This is demonstrated in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, as all forms of media are controlled by the World State, in favor of the World State and the culture they have created.
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.
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.
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.
The news media rejects the fact that they are biased. They claim that they are the “middle of the road,” and are neutral on the stories that they cover. Publishers also claim that they are the watchdog for the political system, and they make sure that the system is free of any corruption, or wrongdoing. Th...
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.
Media bias has existed nearly as long as the media in this country. In fact, in the 18th, 19th, and even into the early 20th century, it was not unusual for political parties to support and therefore, influence newspapers. In fact, media bias was so common it was nearly expected. Politicians were even known to direct individual editorial pages to fit their campaigns. Readers themselves are also biased, which affects news reporting.
Bias, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. According to the Nation Bureau of Economic Research, “There are two different types of media bias. One bias, which we refer to as ideology, reflects a news outlet's desire to affect reader opinions in a particular direction. The second bias, which we refer to as spin, reflects the outlet's attempt to simply create a memorable story.” (Mullainathan & Shleifer)
Throughout history, popular media has occupied a significant role in the dissemination of knowledge amongst the masses. Noteworthy advances in technology, such as the television, have increasingly helped to sate the “popular demand for knowledge about the problems that torment modern man” (Schlesinger 343). More recently, the Internet has been identified not only for the availability of greater media choice, but also for the potential ease of individuals to consume selective or partisan media options (Davis 273). Now, researchers examine the extent to which media in general has played a part in one ongoing American progress: political polarization. While the number of consistent American liberals or conservatives has doubled since in the last two decades, and political center has also shrunk significantly from 49% to 39% of Americans between 1994 and 2004, the exact causes of these trends are complex (Doherty).
Throughout history media has been prevalent in delivering facts and stories relevant to current events. Now a day though the media is less focused on delivering the truth, than on pushing their own political agenda on the public, while seamlessly defaming the other media networks. The 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton demonstrated polarizing affect the media’s bias has on the public. Each day leading up to the election new stations would find some piece of dirt on Trump or Clinton and run story after story on it, instead of focusing on each candidate’s platform.
The elimination of media bias is pretty much impossible due to the fact that large corporations head the media, and the heads of most large corporations are white men, but by the implementation of certain strategies it would be a move in the right direction. Media bias is a problem, though it may not be blatant, it is serious because it could be helping to form people?s beliefs about others. People are scared of the unknown, and by giving them a certain portrayal of someone they have had no interaction with; it can have detrimental effects. Who knows actually what impact media bias has had on the nation as a whole. How do we know whether or not media bias has made an individual not get or even lose a job? How do we know how many friendships media bias has stopped from even being initiated? Hopefully one day we will be able to recognize what media bias is, only then will we be able to begin the process of fighting to put an end to it. Only then will we be able to create a fair, unbiased media that is diverse and one that encompasses the ideas of an ideal media.