Dangerous News Bias

In the study, each source was ranked based on the political leanings of its audience. As a result, it ranked sources such as Buzzfeed more liberal than average while it ranked sources such as the Rush Limbaugh Show more conservative than average. However, none of the sources earned a perfectly neutral ranking (Wormald). The correlation between news sources and their audience’s political leanings becomes interesting when compared to the type of content each news source produces. Rush Limbaugh, for example, is infamous for his conservative rhetoric, whereas Buzzfeed is known for its lighthearted quizzes and comical representation of liberal politics. This reveals something about our perception of truth: biased sources allow individuals to ‘select’ the truth. When conflicting information is pushed to the side, it becomes nonexistent. Subsequently, the sum of partial truths interpreted by an individual becomes a whole truth in their mind, especially when partial truths are reinforced by mainstream media sources such as Buzzfeed or the Rush Limbaugh Show. This is harmful because, as Lewis implied, the entire truth is lost in this process and mutual understanding becomes harder to

Countless people have criticized Fox News and CNN for political bias, but recently outrage to media bias has resulted in lasting negative consequences far beyond years prior. Donald Trump has convinced a significant amount of his base to distrust the mainstream media, as evidenced by a Quinnipiac poll that reveals 5 in 10 likely voters believe the media is biased against him (Harper). This number jumps to an incredible 9 in 10 with Republicans. Trump supporters have refused to view media they perceive to be biased, even going so far to chant “CNN sucks!” at a rally in Pennsylvania (“10,000 Trump Supporters”). The resentment of a few news outlets affects not only those news outlets, but how the dissenters perceive the world as a whole. When

Chun-Fang Chiang and Brian Knight discuss the significance that media bias has on voters in America. They conducted a study in which subjects select a candidate to vote for after reading a biased newspaper article. After the research is conducted, they determine that media is influential in determining who people will vote for, but there are different degrees of influence. For example, people are more willing to be influenced when their source is more credible and when the voters tend to be more moderate.

News sources carry the persona of giving biased information in the vast majority of cases-whether or not you may consider that as a “good” or “bad” thing. No matter what news source you retrieve your information from, there is almost assuredly a flaw in the way that news is presented to the audience, in order to try and persuade you to follow their bias. Oftentimes the bias is politically based; for instance, Fox News is believed to show bias in favor of the Republican party, professional sports outlets may be biased towards certain teams or players, certain articles or reports may be biased towards a certain race, and so on. The bottom line is no matter how significant (or insignificant) the news may be, or what the subject of the news may

Often times people utilize certain sources and watch certain news channels because these viewers can relate to the views on these sources. It can make one believe that his/her perspective is correct simply because that is what the new source is providing. Viewers watch news sources that share the same opinions as their own, because these viewers are just as bias as the sources; these viewers favor one side, as do the news sources. John Stossel, a Fox News reporter discusses the book “Bias” with author Bernie Goldberg, an ex CBS News reporter. John expected for ABC to read the book and disagree with Bernie on the ABC news channel (Goldberg and Stossel). However, these people were proud of not reading the book and gave it no attention. Even if one does not agree with a certain viewpoint, it is very important to hear the different perspectives because it allows the viewer to see and hear other people’s opinion. Because most news sources do not include all sides, it becomes difficult for an individual to

It has been stated that the media is biased, and consequently acts as a destructive force in our republic, an idea that has proven to be realistic in society today in American politics. Rather than showing information on politics in a neutral manner, the media will only provide information on what they believe is important, attempting to influence the American people with one side of the story. With that, the media is a destructive force for reasons also including that it has no choice but to be, it is just a way of nature of the media. The final reason as to why the media acts as a monster to our republic is because rather than focusing the attention of the information that will benefit our society, the media provides viewers information on

Media bias is a topic that has been in great focus of many political leaders over the past few presidential elections. However, what many people fail to see is that media bias has been around since the beginning of major news companies. Most Americans do not know what media bias is or how to identify it. That stated many people have noticed that most news stations are biased towards one religion, political party or even gender. This has been like this for decades however has become much more prominent during major wars, the great depression and many social and political reforms such as the industrial era or the civil rights era. However the type of bias has been shifted mostly from a war focus and the focus on exposing corruption to

One of the easiest ways to see the influence of media bias is through the election season. Political propaganda has a major effect on potential voters during this time because of the magnitude of the event. There was a study done in 2007 that discovered that Fox News, who is known to be republican bias, had convinced 3% to 28% of their listeners to vote republican (Knight, Chiang, 2008). On the reverse side, readers of the primarily democratic Washington Post’s probability to vote democrat, increased by 8% (Knight, Chiang, 2008). What this shows is that in a

Today's media has displayed countless ways they show media bias. Many channels have depicted a different side to one story and base information on a political party in which the channel supports. Each news source has one goal, and that is to state what will make the chosen party to have a good platform for the public to see. In the series of events that have occurred recently one can see how different news sources have pushed for what each channel believes is the main point needed to be crossed and have shared beliefs in either a liberal or conservative way.

A liberal is a person that believes that the government should provide equality for all, while a conservative is a person that believes in limited government and that the government should provide the necessary freedom for people to pursue their own goals. Over time, it has been argued, mostly by conservatives, that there is a liberal bias in the media. Liberals have combated this idea with the belief that conservative media is devoted to making efforts to invoke fear and division in the general public. Though liberals make a fine counter-argument, it is easier to observe that the media is liberal-biased. The liberal versus conservative debate can be compared to facts versus values. Another reason for bias within the media is that a significant percentage of minorities, or smaller groups within the population that are often thought to be poorer, politically identify themselves as liberals. To make these minorities feel like the government is on their side as well as everyone else’s, the media must accommodate the needs of these minorities. Because of this, the media becomes liberal-biased.

It is important that news broadcasting networks do not let personal bias effect the story that’s being told to its audience. People who watch the news, opinions are heavily influenced by the information given to them. Viewers think their opinion is original but are unaware that the information they receive is biased and is meant to influence and form their opinions about a certain topic or argument. Many believe that the news is unbiased and factual because journalist or experts are providing them with evidence.When, in fact, these news outlets are filled with producers, reporters, and writers, who share the same viewpoints. This is groupthink and groupthink is very prominent in news broadcasting networks. Groupthink is when a group of people who share the same ideologies make decisions as a group. In an interview with Fox Business’s John Stossel, Bernie Goldberg explains that groupthink effects the viewer because like-minded people at news networks only show the audience one-side of an argument or story because of their personal opinions on a the topic. This means that news

Journalists play an important part in the democratic process. Traditionally, the roles of the news media are to provide a forum for debate, represent opposing perspectives on the day’s issues and hold public officials accountable while serving their constituents. However, in recent decades, media has given way to biased forms of news— partisan media. In Matthew Levendusky’s “How Partisan Media Polarize America,” he explores if these partisan media influences viewers. The book’s second chapter, “What Do Partisan Media Actually Say?” concludes that partisan media promotes a larger agenda separately to Democrats and Republicans, attack the opposing side while denouncing compromise, and usually side with their candidate of choice during

The national media is instrumental in allowing the electorate to develop opinions about contemporary issues. The media is incredibly influential and its power can be wielded for the benefit of all, or it can become a detriment to society. Some media outlets seek to sensationalize the news, sacrificing informing voters in favor of the bottom line. It is through people and organizations who seek to provide the most accurate and impartial view of an event that popular sovereignty gains much of its power. A commitment to informing the public, even when the information conflicts with a writer’s social and political philosophy, can be a difficult one to maintain. Yet, reporters uphold it everyday. This can be seen in the news site CNN (Cable News Network), which is known for having a liberal bias. Despite said bias, it does not shy away from portraying Hillary Clinton, a democrat, as a flawed candidate in an effort to be unbiased. Such a commitment is essential to creating a political and social dialogue in our nation, and as the saying goes, “when dialogue fails, democracy fails.”

On the contrary, a biased media has increased its effects on American citizens from a voting stand point. It is no surprise that the media plays a major and powerful role in the lives of millions of American citizens every day. These same Americans sit before the television and computer screens and partake in ongoing debates as it relates to political values, parties, and various other pieces of data. It was seen in most recent election experiences that the media can be biased towards both liberals and conservatives. Frontline reported that by comparison, only 11 percent of the primary coverage

For example, both news networks tend to politicize mass shootings in an effort to push gun legislation. These networks use emotion and try to guilt Americans into supporting stricter gun laws instead of just reporting facts. Not only do both these media outlets try to push its liberal agenda, CNN and MSNBC also try to diminish its opponents. Americans need to look no further than the way both news networks portray the republican presidential candidates during the presidential debates to see the obvious bias mainstream media and cable news networks have. CNN and MSNBC try to push this belief that all republicans are just old. rich, and white men. This belief could not be further from the truth. Prior to dropping out of the presidential race, Marco Rubio was the youngest candidate and also Cuban. Ben Carson is African-American as well as an accomplished neurosurgeon. As much as mainstream media would like Americans to believe this faulty stereotype about republicans, these assumptions are completely