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Media Bias Essay

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Media have extreme power in setting cultural guidelines and in shaping political debates. It is vital that news media, along with other news outlets, are challenged to be fair and accurate. The first step in challenging biased news coverage is documenting bias. For years, people have accused news co-operations of airing bias stories which producers and editors are still denying to this day. It is impossible for journalists not to air a story free of bias, that doesn’t mean the news is wrong or irrelevant just because it is influenced by bias. Even if a reporter tries to report a story honestly and fairly to the best of their ability, they’re still biased because human beings are biased by nature. Bias in the news is inevitable, and although …show more content…

Headlines can be misleading, conveying excitement when the story is not exciting, and subtlety expressing approval or disapproval when the reporting is meant to be free of bias. Many people only read the headline of a news article without actually listing to what the story is about and be misled by the bias and deceptive headlines. By drawing attention to certain details or facts, a headline can affect what existing knowledge is activated in your head. By its choice of phrasing, a headline can influence your mindset as you read so that you later recall details that coincide with what you were …show more content…

This influence can take on many different forms, from picking and choosing the editors, to establishing the political or ideological slant of the programs being broadcast, to direct meddling in the content of specific news stories. It may not even be on purpose, but if you closely examine and compare news articles against each other you will be able to see the subtle differences in both stories. The owners personal and political beliefs can influence the type of producers and editors hired and their personal and political values also impacts the final slant of the story that gets

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