The Biased Media and Its Effects on American Interest Towards Politics In America we value the freedom of the press. The press is the one place where most Americans go to get educated on issues facing their community, state, and most of all nation. Everyone knows that the media plays a major role in Americans' lives; however their role of gatekeeper is not completely understood. The press decides which issues to report and how to report them. In order to improve the nation and world, the media should present their unbiased findings to allow people to make up their own minds. However, this is not the case. The media often shows its bias. Their widespread exposure enables them to communicate their ideas to the public, regardless of …show more content…
I think that many Americans do not even know their Senators' or House Representatives' name. On the other hand, it would be very difficult to find someone who does not know anything about the recent presidential election. Everyone knows about the Florida ballot disputes only because the media has placed so much emphasis on them. There is so much media coverage in politics today that in order to be elected one must be appealing to the public. Years ago the only way people could find out about candidates and the issues they stood for was by reading a newspaper or listening to the radio. Today, anyone can turn on the television or go to a web site on the Internet and see the candidates themselves talking about their issues. With almost all American homes having at least one television, a candidate must possess a good personality, plans and ideas. Now, more than ever Americans place excessive importance on appearance. This means that a candidate has to appear successfully, competent and inspire confidence. When was the last time a president was elected based on appearances? It was probably in the 1800's with the election of Abe Lincoln. History shows what a great president he was. It sounds very superficial, but unfortunately this is true of our society. Candidates have to appeal to the public as much as possible, and appear comfortable on camera. However a candidate's appearance is not the only thing that plays a major role in getting them elected. In 1984,
Americans have given up some of their freedoms to be protected by the United States, so they have a right to be informed. In the majority of the all the discussion boards, the classmates agreed that the media creates problems. By giving stories more attention than others, the media creates problems. The media tends to focus more on seriously violent crimes more than missing, or kidnapping cases. According to Champion, in the portrayal of both offenders and victims of crimes in the media there is a "significant focus on high profile crimes as well as societal ills related to crime and victimization" (Champion 2007). In addition, the media reports stories that can make money, and to draw viewership. These are important to the media because without the funding the media wont be able to report from different places across the U.S., and without the support of the public looking them, the media will lose its only audience. The media plays a significant role in public safety by keeping the public aware of crime increase, violence, and fugitives. This allows the community to take action to promote their safety. Americans put a lot of trust into the media in hopes that everything they report is honest and fair.
Media has been playing a significant role in our daily lives by developing our personalities, enriching our knowledge and providing us with different sorts of information. It has a tremendous power in framing cultural guidelines and shaping political dissertation. If the information provided to the U.S. citizens is distorted, then they cannot make informed decisions on the matters of public policy. Thus, it becomes vital to the American democracy that the news media and its institutions remain unbiased, fair and accurate. Media bias happens when a media systematically and persistently emphasize one particular point of view that is usually below the standards of professional journalism. There can be various reasons for media bias, some of
The media is an extremely powerful source in society today. Surprisingly, many are unaware of this and choose to believe everything they read in magazines, newspapers and online without actually understanding where this information is coming from. This is a monumental problem in our generation today because like Malcolm X said, the media has the power to make the innocent look guilty and the guilty look innocent. In other words, the media has the power to manipulate our views and perspectives on controversial issues to persuade us to believe their
The media is often considered to be biased. The reason for this is because they do not act neutral on the things that they report on. They usually give their point of view and tend to warp the information so it’s easily digestible by the average person. This type of “nugget feeding,” can influence the judgment of some one who has no idea what is going on. The media tends to
Media bias is defined as “the perception that the media is reporting the news in a partial or prejudiced manner” (Dugger). This kind of bias can be observed everywhere and in every kind of situation. American people get almost all of their information from popular news outlets or some other form of media. The media is often guilty for taking advantage of their power and covering stories with a certain political bias. This is obviously an enormous problem. It was not hard to find an example of such bias and the influence it has on public opinion.
It has recently come to my attention that not enough people understand how great bias in media has been to our lives. Each day we wake up and see near one or more biases in the media, lying at the foot of our beds. It is wonderful to be able to wake up and smile each morning because of this. Decisions are made based on what people hold to be true. History has shown instances where severly biased media. The most recognizable evidence being WWII and Stalin. "Because of the status quo bias, the media ignore any position that advocates radical change"
America holds the illusion of ‘land of the free and home of the brave.’ This by any means, is not true if we continue to classify big media corporations as free press. Big corporations like Fox news, CNN, Union Tribune, etc. are also referred to as mainstream media and are completely under the control of the elite 1%. Time and again mainstream media has proved as unrepresentative, only serving the ones who pay them. In a nation where democracy is valued, people rely heavily on news sources to gather information, therefore, they need sources who can provide uncensored information that enables them to make knowledgeable decisions about their government.
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
Using Media today has become a way of life for people all across the world. It is a way for people to stay informed on current events, form opinions on hot topics, as well as determine their political affiliation. Because the media has become such an influential tool, it is important to eliminate bias in order to allow people to develop their individual opinions and become educated members of today’s society. By creating more diversity in journalism, having a more open mind about certain topics, and forming a new mold of media coverage, Americans can create an unbiased source of media that will encourage a more independent and intelligent society.
I agree with you in the fact that media in the United States is indeed biased. The mainstream media particularly all seem to have a majority of the same viewpoints with little variation on their beliefs, but I must disagree when you say all journalists and writers are biased because, “they push their agenda in news and entertainment.” Media bias comes from a multitude of factors, who enters careers in writing and journalism, where journalists get information from, and how audiences receive news and media.
When you think of politics today in America, what is the first thing that pops into your head? If you’re like me, your first thought was about Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump. Your second thought might be about the major hot button issues in the United States today, such as Health Care, Immigration Reform, and Gun Control. Whether you’re like me or not, I’ve noticed one thing during this presidential race that cannot be avoided: media biases. The media today is a major part of politics, and often times is who we look to when deciding what candidate we want to vote for. Media biases involving politics, in my opinion, should not exist because it is unethical.
Despite its relatively short length this piece on the influence of appearance on political elections was shocking. Studies showed that not only were voters more likely to select a candidate who appeared more assertive and leader-like but they did so in spite of party affiliation or campaign platform. At surface value this is not entirely surprising, I can freely admit that I take into account a person’s appearance when developing a first impression of them, and am more likely to make a favorable one when they have a visually pleasing appearance. That being said our current election process is heavily reliant on the media, we almost never meet our elected official in person and as such are dependent on the perception we get from TV and newspapers. Given how close our most recent elections are often being decided by only a handful of percentage points, the 12% swing theorized in the article could actually be the deciding factor in elections. It is therefore up to us to further examine whether a candidate’s appearance is really enough information with which to choose our elected officials.
"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." This quote by A.J. Liebling illustrates the reality of where the media stands in today's society. Over the past twenty years there has been an increase in power throughout the media with regard to politics. The media's original purpose was to inform the public of the relevant events that occurred around the world. The job of the media is to search out the truth and relay that news to the people. The media has the power to inform the people but often times the stories given to the public are distorted for one reason or another. Using slant and sensationalism, the media has begun to shape our views in society and the process by which
In campaigning, media coverage plays a large role for candidates. They use the media to make their name heard and image seen. “Nearly everything a candidate does is geared toward the media, especially television” (Stuckey, 1999, p. 99) Candidates make appearances on talk shows,
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.