Everybody in the United States has a certain way of getting information about what’s going on in the country. Some of the media giants in this country include CNN, Fox News, NBC, among many others, and nearly all of them have been criticized for being biased and promoting “hidden agendas.” Today, the clear majority of the public get their news very quickly, so people prefer television news or through apps or websites on their phones. Connor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic took note of this in an article he wrote titled “Why Does the American Media Get Big Stories Wrong?” He states that the media has shifted to less informative methods of reporting on stories and that today’s media is ripe with flaws, many of which are easily identifiable. Opposed …show more content…
Television cares much more about headline news with opinionated interviews and short segments, along with boosting their ratings, charisma, and image, rather than caring about giving actual information and giving the full spectrum of the story. Cassidy agreed that this current state of the news is not a good thing. In his article, he states that there is a new 24-hour coverage cycle on the news, which shortens the segments of larger news stories to include the smaller ones. Although they agree on this general idea, Cassidy pins the blame on the viewer, not the media. He claims that a divided and dysfunctional American body of politics leads to people looking to pin blame and to blindly relate back to their party relation. Friedersdorf then moves on to say that the general public undervalues the watchdog media, which I agree with and we also discussed this idea in our class discussion about the media. The government and its officials can partake in some corrupt activity, and news outlets are supposed to be there to break that to the public and prevent further corruption from happening. The issue is that media outlets aren’t doing this because corruption doesn’t bring in as many views as fear or …show more content…
Friedersdorf mentions how media outlets seem to respond to media criticism, and he continues the statement by saying that he agrees that there is a liberal bias that is swayed by America’s conservative movement. Although this is true, he also states that the conservative movement doesn’t necessarily benefit the media. The conservatives had been giving false reports that the initial situation in Iraq was favorable when in reality it was a disaster, and the conservative bias believed that they were telling the “real” story. Meanwhile, years later, the situation between Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann brought to light what a liberal bias without an ideology could do, and it changed the media more than the conservative bias did in years. This bias issue goes perfectly with what Cassidy says is the main issue with modern day political news media. Cassidy believes that it is not that there is a lack of serious reporters, but an issue with people finding sources that favor their own personal agenda. This happens on both ends of the spectrum, but it is more extreme on the conservative end. This idea perfectly supports what Friedersdorf had said in his article. Friedersdorf ends the article by claiming that nobody oversees the media, and this leads to a free-for-all coverage of news stories. This leads to some important news stories
Having served nearly thirty years at CBS News, Mr. Goldberg had earned a reputation as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. However, when he observed his own industry, he realized the liberal media had completely missed their mission to give honest news. After years of sharing his observations and promoting more balanced reportings, Goldberg soon realized that no one listened because they believed they were doing the right thing. The liberal bias continued, therefore Bernard Goldberg decided to take the situation into his own hands and expose the distortion of the media himself. Goldberg’s breathtaking and shocking best seller book, Bias, reveals the close-mindedness of the news culture and their mission to entertain rather than share facts.
Those who work in the media are so afraid to tell the truth and decide to keep quiet instead because of what others might think of them. John Stossel, on the other hand, decided to speak nothing but the truth when he announced that he was a libertarian with strong beliefs and began his own show. Bernie Goldberg was another person who admitted to the media being biased and has said that because of the truth, he has lost many of his former “friends”. Everyday people sit down in front of their TV to watch the news expecting to hear what one wants to hear. People watch news sources that have the same mindset as them and know it, but will continue to do so because of wanting to stick to their own beliefs. Sometimes it can be difficult to spot bias in the media for some because of how believable and inaccurate the media can be. Nevertheless, there is definitely bias in the media and the six powerhouses have their own beliefs and will only give out information they believe is
In “There Is No Significant Media Bias”, Paul Farhi argues that political news is actually tilted towards the center, “Because that's where the people are, and that's where the [advertising] money is.” Critics such are Farhi are wrong in the sense that media bias affect certain groups of people more disproportionately than others. “There Is No Significant Media Bias” was created in 2012, a time when political scene was much milder and social media didn't have as much influence as it has currently. In 2016 alone, the popularity of fake news on Facebook has already jumped past the viewership of mainstream news media (Lee). The media scene has done miracles for conservative news outlets, as previously stated with the popularity boom of websites such as Breitbart. Even MSNBC, the news channel that has traditionally been trusted for progressive news, has come out with an ad stating, “People might accuse us of leaning too far to the right”, shifting towards more right-leaning TV programming (Christopher). If there were no significant media, there would be no budding movement in media and consumer trends that leans particularly strong to one ideology over another. Clearly, this is not the
Hour by hour minute by minute the media blinds us with propaganda and manipulates us into believing a biased opinion. People see this everyday with tabloids and the media. They lie to us with one sided opinions in politics for a quick buck and they lure people away from the truth. America needs to start thinking for themselves and stop letting the media control their lives. The media is creating filters and providing fake news on important situations in the world. And Americans need to wake up and solve this
In “Feeding Frenzy” by Larry Sabato he is critical of the characteristics of the media in situations where they openly ridicule and attack a widely known person for some sort of wrongdoing, or past indiscretion. According to Sabato, journalists and the media now fit snugly into their newfound role as gatekeeper, which he says enables them to basically screen people who are fit for
The media today has become a topic of concern for many members of the general population. Am I getting a reliable source of information? Is this source withholding the truth and ameliorating a topic? If I know that the information being reported is false, how can I trust that any other information from this source can be trusted? These are several questions that a particular citizen might make on a day to day basis, and when the question of bias is thrown into the mix, an overwhelming feeling of mistrust in our media can ensue. Media sources today are siding more and more towards their viewers political views, and this creates a form of media-bias that can spread untrustworthy information out into the public. Depending on your media source,
Consequently, the political sphere is now being colonised by the media, and politics has begun re-orientating itself to satisfy the logic of media organisations (Meyer, 2002, p. 71). Therefore, the media are active participants in the policymaking process and the ability to stimulate change or maintain the status quo depends on their choice of subject or policy issue and how they frame it. Active investigative reporting attempts to shape policy outcomes, but this does not necessarily mean that it always represents the most successful approach for gaining policy changes (Spitzer, 1993, p. 7). In fact, sometimes passive, straight reporting can have a greater influence on policy choices. When this occurs, media independence is largely bypassed, as the news generated depends solely on the information released (as public relations material) from legitimate news sources. For example, in the United States, White House staff routinely make ‘leaks’ - expressively to influence policy decisions (Davis, 1992, p. 143; Robinson, 2001, p. 948). Robinson noted that journalists regard “leaks… as indispensable to their work” and that they are aware of their use by officials in return for scoops (2001, p. 949).
After reading Bernard Goldberg’s Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News, I could recognize the medias divide and opinion when reporting the news. Growing older and more understanding of certain issues and what is going on in the world it has been easier for me to acknowledge this bias and opinion of news reporters when watching the news. Being more in the middle of the right and left wing I can see how the media inputs its views that are not objective or twists stories to make it politically correct.
In article 8, Michael Parenti challenges the view that the mainstream media in the United States is free, independent, neutral and objective. Parenti claims that the media “often behaves like the lapdogs of Plutocracy”. Plutocracy is a government that is basically controlled and ruled by the wealthy in that country. Essentially what this means is that the media is run by these giant wealthy corporations and instead of media doing its job, and informing the general public, instead it only says what these corporations want them to say. Hard hitting news that shines a negative light on these wealthy groups is banned because it makes them look bad. One of the best pieces of evidence he offers is the slew of reporters that have been fired or forced
Bias is something that has littered the media whenever politics come into play; some media outlets may favor one political party over another. While there is nothing wrong with centering yourself around a political party due to your own beliefs, it does become a problem when you’re “forcing” your beliefs onto the public. It obviously separates people, including the readers, since a group is most likely being talked about in a negative light. The culprit of this “crime” is The Blaze, an obviously conservative news network that associates itself with the Republican party, and this is shown through many of their articles and videos. Despite their obvious bias, the writer of the article seems to think it is appropriate to call out a group of people
The interviewees themselves admit to noticing mainstream media bias. While there is no clear indication if the media is biased leaning towards the right or left on the political spectrum, each news outlet provides its own form of bias that it wishes to portray. The news holds power to frame presidential candidates and perceive them how they want viewers to, especially in today’s constantly growing popularity as America slowly decides who wants to be their next president. One my of biggest findings of these interviews were Spencer’s accusations that mainstream media is very biased and that he doesn’t approve of them. This supports the argument that the American media is biased in one way or another and that not all committed conservatives or liberals put their trust into popular news outlets. The gentlemen I interviewed strive for more neutrality in the media. America needs to improve its market-dominated news outlets so that citizens may be able to educate themselves further and better familiarize themselves for what news and journalism truly should
When considering a problem or dilemma in any circumstance it is ideal that one must look at two or more sides depending on how many there are, in order to come out with an accurate and educated view of the problem itself. If this happens all the time, in every situation where a problem arises, where everyone looks to find a solution to the problem by researching and viewing the problem itself from multiple points of view, all of the society itself will be more educated and aware of important matters, and will more easily distinguish between right and wrong positions on certain matters. In the real world, many people will believe the side with the most coverage or the most information, and they do not care enough to do their own research or
In today’s society, remaining connected and knowledgeable of current events and the newest trends is vital to staying ahead in business, education, and social standing. This information is supplied to everyone through the internet, newspapers, television, and radio. One can tune into stations such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, Al-Jazeera, and many others (“SQs of Media Outlets”). In order to meet the needs of viewers, readers, and listeners, the ideal media system would contain accurate, quick information, with a purely impartial view on the facts as they are known. However, this modern media system has not maintained an objective view, pushing opinionated and slanted reporting onto the population in order to create profit and gain customers. The exploitation of information media for personal gain has created a toxic and inaccurate present, constant in today’s society.
Until the 1980s, the control of the media was in the hands of the national government. From then, the control shifted to private outlets and by the 1990’s, there were more than fifty multinational companies who controlled it (“Mass Media”). Today, only about six major companies control the larger fraction of media in America (Williams, Par. 1). Norman Solomon wrote in the New Political Science Journal that most reporters and editors work for just a few huge companies. These journalists and editors are on the payroll for “mega-media institutions”, of which, only about six exist (Solomon 297). How much will the public learn if these companies generally control the output of information?
Thousands of our nation's men and women were fighting for their country, yet the media limited the amount of information that they chose to pass on to the public. Each day the media is faced with the choice of making decisions of what news to pass on, when that news could make a significant difference in someone's life, or in the fate of our nation.