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American Journalism Bias

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American journalism started as a modest business until it was employed as a political instrument in the effort for independence from Great Britain. After the Bill of Rights protected the freedom of the press, the power of the media was recognized, and it expanded swiftly after the American Revolution. During the nineteenth century, the penny press played a big part in the media with cheap and mass-produced newspapers which increased the growth of the press rapidly. Large newspapers turned into lucrative stations where sectionalism, verity, muckraking, news and promotion were prevalent. With the introduction of the radio and television, most of the American Media became owned by big establishments and amalgamations. Although the United States …show more content…

However, the media, like every institution, is fallible to corruption and human error. It is open to the whims and weaknesses of the humans who created it. Media bias is the notion that the press has a subjective bias on how it reports the news and the incidents or affairs it chooses to report to the public. Journalists can show bias by excluding significant information that can change how people perceive a story. Journalists may also fail to mention details about themselves that can cause readers to question their authenticity or reveal why they support a particular side. From the beginning of the American media, bias has always existed. One of the first American newspaper, James Franklin’s “the New England Courant”, was aligned with party interest. James Franklin’s brother, Benjamin Franklin, used a pseudonym to criticize certain politicians (“PBS”). Pseudonyms were mainly used when civilians attacked people of influence and wanted to avoid prison. During the fight for American independence, newspapers like “the American Gazette” reported news in favor of the patriots to gain more public support (“PBS”). As American journalism has progressed, the media has had to find new ways to keep the public interested. One of its ways is to focus on Sensationalism. That is, reporting stories that bring controversy and alarm to the public. In Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt’s book Freakonomics, they explain the concern the country had for the growing crime rate in the 1900s. This concern was exacerbated by the mainstream media who predicted an apocalypse where most of the teenagers would be violent criminals and walking outside would not be safe. After the crime rate started dropping, some of these media personalities admitted that the warnings of a

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