The Negative Effects Of Mass Media Bias

Being biased is having a preference for one thing, usually in an unfair way. This is when someone has an one-sided opinion and does not have any room for considering alternative viewpoints. Views that are biased may be directed towards an individual, religion, political party, social class, nation, species, or any other distinct group. Biased acts may be expressed in many forms, but the most common is in the mass media. The media use this based on the perception of the producer or reporter within the media in the events that are being personally covered. When media bias is present in a news source, it is using a prejudiced approach and is leading to leaving out important sections of the whole truth. The source chooses to leave out these facts just because it does not support the message that corresponds to

specific beliefs. Media bias is typically used to persuade the viewers to agree with the sources perspectives.
Bias in the media may be expressed through many different ways in today's society. Most information can be received through the television, internet, newspaper, books, magazines, and multiple other resources. Each of these has a specific way of releasing opinions or facts to the viewers about the topic that is being stated. Being conservative or liberal plays a major role in the media and the information that is given by either can vary. Bias in these sources usually excludes facts that are relevant to the story. The source may use techniques like name calling to make a group or individual seem of lesser value in the report. Opinions that are publicly stated have a major impact on society and this could alter beliefs. Overall, media bias may be present in any source that one reads or views.
News sources have multiple reasons as to why bias in the media is used so frequently. One reason behind this is that the sources want to increase viewing rates and avoid any sudden decline. This includes doing or saying anything just to gain the attention of the people. In certain cases, lies may be told when a story is first released, but sometimes the source will go back to an old story and correct any misleading information that has been given. If the people agree to the opinions or lies that are told, they are most likely going to keep going back to that one source to receive any information even though it may not be completely reliable or true. Reporting what the people want to hear rather than the full truth is one method that these sources use just to get more viewers and keep the ones that have been continuously viewing. This technique guarantees that the rates will remain constant or increase which will bring more popularity to the source. Another reason why media bias is being used is simply because the source focuses on personal beliefs. This is also tied into whether the source is liberal or conservative. That plays a major role in how the media discusses topics to reveal personal judgments. If the viewers think this station reports reasonable information that correlate to personal beliefs, then it is likely that one will return to this source for updated information.
Sometimes voicing a different opinion in the media is frowned upon when the majority of the people working for that source has particular beliefs that are similar.

The mass media uses groupthink so the viewers can easily relate if the viewpoints are the same. Groupthink is when a group of individuals that have the same beliefs, and think alike, come together to avoid encountering any controversial issues on a topic. In Stossel in the Classroom with Bernie Goldberg and Dealing with Media Bias, Goldberg states, “...after that piece came out, a bunch of my former ‘friends’ stopped talking to me.” Bernie Goldberg is the publisher of the famous book “Bias”, where he revealed how networks use liberal bias and how one can detect this. Once this piece got published, Goldberg was looked down on by his colleagues just because he did not agree with the liberal bias that was taking place in his workplace and many other news sources. Having different beliefs in the media business exposes many to truths that do not contain bias that were not obvious before. Goldberg revealed how news sources work just to show that the public may not be getting the whole truth all the

time.