News : The Politics Of Illusion Essay

Now a days people run to media for answers on current events and expect information to be accurate, but yet do the people know that almost all media news reports are bias. Often times people run to news channels that give out information they want to hear based off the media’s beliefs. The media has always been bias, but it wasn’t until certain events occurred that opened society’s eyes. There are six powerhouse news sources that all have their own type of bias which points out their own perspective on current events. When it comes to current events, different media platforms represent the story from different perspectives. Viewers want their views to be validated rather than challenged and don’t give ideas of what people should do. Although

Recently, in June 2017, Grant Charley reported a news article named ‘One Almost-Certain Risk for Investors in the Health-Care Bill; Higher out of pocket spending will keep the spotlight on healthcare costs’ in The Wall Street Journal which was published by Dow Jones & Company. Later, in August 2017, Deborah Barfield Berry reported a news article named ‘Blacks look to close health gap; With ACA in limbo, leaders take matters into their own hands’ in USA Today which was published by the newspaper company itself. Both the newspaper articles were focused on the proposed healthcare bill and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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).

In a general sense society derives much of their beliefs and indifferences from stories that are covered in the media. If the stories are being reported biased, how can we, as a society, see the whole picture? The author's purpose is to inform readers about the different biases that news and media sway by and to provide evidence that proves instances when these biases have weakened the validity of the reporter's story. "Journalist are like dogs-whenever anything moves, they begin to bark." (Gladstone, 2011/2013, P.25)

The power and consequently the responsibility of media, especially mainstream, is something that shouldn’t be underestimated. It often sets the agenda amongst the general public and is the reference point for the majority of the discussion surrounding it. For many, what they see and read in the media forms the basis of their opinions on most important topics. Despite warnings not to, many believe that everything they read in the media must be true.

The discourse community of broadcast journalists is a broad community, but can be narrowed down to smaller groups. As a discourse community journalist come in as novices, but carry the opportunity to ascend in their profession, to become an anchor for a national news network. The fundamental goal of journalists is to educate the public with events that take place daily, both domestically and internationally. With this fundamental goal at hand, news networks run astray, to where they begin to host biased opinions, with means to draw in a certain audience. These biases are presented by the networks reflect a political bias, religious bias, and social bias that can impact the facts of the story

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.”

According to Journalism.org, 74% of Americans claim to believe that news organizations are biased. Even though the vast majority of Americans feel aware of the biases of the media, however, society continues to be conditioned by the manipulative tactics of the media. The media plays a major role in American culture but, at the same time, most Americans are unable to differentiate biased from unbiased information, which is a vital issue because it prevents people from being honest with themselves and others, and it prevents them from having control over their lives. The effect that conditioning has on society is that it inhibits one’s ability to control

How stories are written and where stories come from also a major force of media bias, this bias comes from how and where journalists get sources. Good, knowledgeable, well-connected sources are hard to come by, so when journalists get access to such sources, they often return to them again and again for comments on stories. This is problematic as, “this journalistic inclination toward certain routine sources might result in a bias in terms of the framing of the event and an imbalanced coverage” (Reich; van der Meer et al.). When journalists return consistently to the same individuals for comments on stories, the viewpoints of those sources get saturated in the media. These source’s opinions, thoughts, and perspective on the events in the news get more representation through media, causing a bias via overrepresentation of a single viewpoint. Another way sources bias media, is who journalists seek as sources. Journalists seek out influential, well connected, and powerful individuals to be sources. This is in no way a bad practice, as journalists want people who are involved in newsworthy events to be informing what the public knows, it can also lead to bias. The media controls what events are covered, in which way, and when. The people of the United States rely on the media to inform them about the happenings of the day. The voice of the media is powerful in its gatekeeping role. If information or commentary about happenings in the world

The media controls many thoughts and facts given to the public that may or may not be true. With the Internet at fingertips across the world, news spreads faster with little evidence provided. Over the last century, the world’s speed increased with news inventions such as cars, electronics, and the Internet. Society’s mindset transformed from hard working to free handouts; therefore, when news sources make a statement, humankind believes it without researching the topic at all. Sometimes, news reporters make legitimate statements that are misinterpreted by readers. The words of the writer are at fault for perspective or understanding of news rather than the interpretation the readers obtain.

In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, the media is given immense power, which it uses to deceive the public into thinking their world and their government is perfect. The government uses their power to completely control every word that the media prints. The media is set on such a high pedestal that the citizens’ hang on to every word they print. Today’s dependency on the media is not far off from Orwell’s prediction. The media is also heavily influenced by sources other than facts and truth. The modern news industry, similar to that of the Orwell’s novel, is heavily influenced by political and private sects, which results in biased news and counterfactual information.

The news is a major source of information used by many people in order to gain knowledge on current events. However, it can become unreliable due to various media biases. These biases are used to make the news more plot driven in order to increase viewers and profits rather than providing in-depth analysis of pertinent issues. Media biases can be dangerous to society, and can give citizens a false view of what is going on in the world. They can strike fear into viewers, and make them believe that the world around them is much less safe then it actually is. In the CNN news clip Politicians Behaving Badly? and the Daily Show clip The Amazing Racism – Geographical Bigotry the media biases of authority-disorder and dramatization

To understand what state the modern media system is in, one must firmly understand what bias is. Media bias is present “when a political belief or commercial interest distorts the level of reporting” (“Media Bias” 1). If a political station provides positive or accurate information to only one side, then the station can be considered biased. Another form of bias is known as sensationalism. Sensationalism is the creation of panic or fear by over-reporting or over-inflating individual news stories, often blurring facts or reporting speculation as facts. A modern and familiar example of media

It is no secret that the news has always been known to be bias toward a certain opinion, but experts can trace acts like this all the way back to the nineteenth century in early America (Thornton, 2016). During this time period most of the well-known newspapers were explicitly linked to political parties and economic interest. Respected historian Chilton Williamson writes this about the early 1900’s, “The presentation of facts simply as facts, editors and writers reasoned, cannot accomplish the exalted goal of saving civilization” (Thornton, 2016). But what if a leader comes along and believes that the best thing for their country is to use extreme media bias? In 1933 Adolf Hitler changed the meaning of media bias by completely controlling what people saw and read. Hitler eliminated papers against his control, and promoted the ones in favor. By doing this, he forced people to only see what news was being presented in one way, instead of an accurate and fair representation of the entire news (The Press in the Third Reich). This statement is not insinuating that bias with Nazi Germany is the same as modern America, but it is suggesting that bias amongst media allows for a misrepresentation of the truth to the people.