Media Analysis Essay

MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY Beginning at a young age, people start to form opinions on the world around them. After being exposed to and exploring different environments, preferences come to light and make one person different from the next. As human beings are predisposed to experiences that influence how they see the world around them, bias is inevitable. Bias is a “distortion from reality that can be shaped by a variety of factors that can be hard to distinguish” (Wagner, 2019) When talking about politics, media bias is certainly unavoidable. The media can be described as various forms of mass communication and its contents. However, it can be understood that it is not that the media’s content is favoring one side over another, but rather the media’s viewership is perceiving it as so. To rule on whether it is the audience or the content that is biased, it is important to analyze the hostile media and third person effects and how these phenomena affect the public. In this essay I will review how interviews with my peers, research studies, and the information I have learned proves it is the perception of the content, rather than the content itself that is bias, when it comes to the media. The hostile media effect is the assumption that a person with pre existing notions sees a balanced story as biased against his or her favored side (Vallone, Ross, & Lepper, 1985). This theory states that someone who cares about an issue with conservative views would regard the same story that a liberal person who cares about the issue is reading as biased against their side, just as liberals would complain the story is biased against them. The relative hostile media phenomenon is also relevant, as this is when the content of the story is biased, The third person media effect, however, is when a person believes a story influences the behavior and mentality of others, but not their own behavior and mentality (Wagner, 2019). Due to the egotistical and competitive nature of man, it is expected that people think they are consistently ethical and become defensive when others disagree with them. Both of these theories reiterate the idea that it MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY is not the media's content that is biased, but rather the viewership of this media that holds the bias. According to the essay Media Bias in Presidential Elections: A Meta-Analysis by Dave D'Alessio and Mike Allen, the subjective perspective of bias is a concept rather than an objective argument. In various instances, this bias is a matter of selective perception—an occurrence in which two people observing the same content illustrate the concepts it differently. However, bias could also be an example of instance confirmation (D’Alessio & Allen, 2006). Instance confirmation is a type of bias where people with differing opinions on an issue find specific examples of messages that counter their preexisting ideas and argue that these messages represent the whole. As well, this essay stated that “no significant biases were found for the newspaper industry. Biases in news magazines were virtually zero as well. However, metaanalysis of studies of television network news showed small, measurable, but probably insubstantial coverage and statement biases” (D’Alessio & Allen, 2006). According to the results of a recent experiment evaluating bias on a variety of individuals with differing opinions conducted by the Knight Foundation merged with Gallup in 2017, people were more likely to say content is biased when the source of the content is stated. However, if the source is anonymous, the reader is much more trusting of the information and reported it as less biased (Rothwell, 2019). Another reason behind perceived bias in individuals according to this study is that people are only reading and analyzing one side of the issue from the same source, rather than finding different perspectives on the issue from a variety of sources (Rothwell, 2019). These two analyses of the audience’s perception of the media and its potential biases reinforce the idea that it is the audience is the one who is seeing the bias, and not the content itself that is continuously leaning toward a singular side. MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY In an interview conducted with Bailey Blaikie, a white 18 year old student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from Westport, Connecticut, who identifies as a liberal, she stated, “I prefer sources that align with my political views, meaning more liberal sources such as The New York Times or The Washington Post. News outlets such as FOX are very biased towards the liberal side.” Blaikie also stated she finds the media in the United States to be biased because “everything is implicitly biased even if someone tries not to be. Especially since we have such a divided government right now, it’s hard for news sources to not lean one way or the other. They also have to tell stories that align with the viewpoints of their audience.” However, Joshua Samuel, an Indian freshman at Cornell University from Jericho, New York, who identifies as an Independent stated, “I read the New York Times or Wall Street Journal everyday and try to stay updated on the current political climate. I try to stray from MSNBC or FOX News because they will use any narrative to get viewers. I think they are very successful in doing so, yet I just disagree with their narrative.” Samuel agrees with Blaikie in the belief that the United States media is biased, yet Samuel believes it is skewed toward the liberal side due to the Hollywood influence. “Many people in Hollywood are liberal and voice their opinions on a public platform that reaches many different people, which is why I believe the media is skewed to the right,” stated Samuel. Although Samuel identifies as an Independent, he stated he is more economically conservative. Conducting these two interviews with my peers from different backgrounds and religions shed light on the fact that media bias is often constructed by the consumer of the media and their opinions, and ideologies. Although Samuel watches political news more often than Blaikie, they both confirmed that they see more bias against their side than information that agrees with their side. This is a direct result of the hostile media effect. Samuel also mentioned that he believes he MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY is much less affected by the news and its contents than the general public because he feels he is much more able to differentiate real news from sensationalistic headlines. This is a direct effect of the third person media phenomenon. To study political polarization and media habits, the Pew Research Center conducted an experiment analyzing the ways in which liberals and conservatives obtain their news. Results showed that there is little overlap in the news sources liberals and conservatives read and value. Similarly, they are more likely to communicate with a homogeneous group of people, or people who share the same beliefs they do. According to this study, 66% of individuals stated that most of their close colleagues and friends have the same views on politics as they do. By attaining the news from media sources that support their views and communicate with like-minded individuals, the public constructs their own perception of bias. Now we must ask ourselves- can there ever be a time in which we do not see bias? To be considered a stable and intelligent person, one must obtain his or her information from a variety of news sources and be aware of all potential media biases. By being attentive and aware of the hostile media phenomenon, humans have the ability to avoid exaggeration of the media’s bias. It is clear through these studies, analyses, and interviews that bias in the media is, in fact, inevitable. Nonetheless, it is due to the effects of the hostile media effect in addition to the third person media effect that creates the perception of media bias. Many years ago, public feedback of the news was not evident, as people simply accepted the news that was in front of them. Now, due to social media and widespread coverage of various topics, the audiences have the ability to give news outlets and politicians their views and ideas on the issues. The rise of social media, and the fundamental change in direction of mass communication, and our fast paced society contribute greatly to agenda setting, or what is discussed in the news. In order to achieve the best MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY ratings, outlets and politicians often post what they think their audiences want to hear, rather than what is the truth. This is another example of how the media can be interpreted as biased. Though there is an inevitable slight bias in the coverage of some content, the majority of the bias comes from the individuals that consume this media. For the reason that people don’t like to be in the minority, and always like to be right, people tend to see all content to be slightly against their side, even if the information about their side is true, but negatively shown. The third person media effect as well as the hostile media effect greatly impact the general public to the degree that the media is seen as more biased than it actually is. MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY Sheftel 1 “I try to stay away from politics side of social networking. Social media is where the alt right and alt left push their news.” 4. What are your positions on: - Abortion: “I believe a woman has the right to choose if she wants an abortion anywhere before the first trimester, but after that more complicated (if life is at risk, but other than that, not really). There are a lot of grey areas.” - Gun control: I’m more in indifferent on this topic. I don’t really love guns, but they shouldn’t all be banned. There should be extensive background checks to make it harder for people to have them, but no need for assault rifles.” 5. Which party do they like or dislike and why? “Currently I am registered as an independent, but lean more republican for economic reasons. I believe democrats are trying to promise socialistic programs in which I am definitely against. However, socially I would consider myself more progressive in some areas.” Media Bias: 6. Is the media in the US biased? If so, which way is it skewed? “Yes. Both sides are definitely bias in their reporting, however I believe the left media is stronger.” 7. Evidence? “The left media has much more media coverage because many celebrities in Hollywood and general people who hold social power have more influence in social media and voice their leftist ideas.” 8. Is media bias inevitable? “Yes, it is inevitable because everyone has their own opinions that make their way into the news. This may be do to unconscious bias due, but everything is driven by money, which ultimately controls what is published by these corporations and outlets.” 9. How much are they affected by the media versus how much others are affected by the media? “The general public is more affected by the media than I am because I can differentiate between what is real and what is trying to sway the general public in a certain direction. I am good at deciphering between accurate headlines and sensationalism.” Interview with Bailey Blaikie 1. How often do you read the news and which outlets do you look to? MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY Sheftel 1 “I read the news almost every day and when I do, I tend to read the Washington Post or New York Times.” 2. Which do you dislike and why? “I don’t like Fox News and sources that are super conservative.” 3. Do you use social networks for your political news intake? “ I usually use the news apps on my phone, but occasionally use social media for my political media. There can be a lot of fake news on social media so I don’t much of it take it seriously.” 4. What are your positions on: - Abortion: “ I am pro-choice and believe a woman has the right to do whatever she wants with her body.” - Gun control: “I am very anti-guns and push for gun reform.” 5. Which party do they like or dislike and why? “ I align myself with the Democratic Party because I was raised by democrats and therefore was raised with liberal ideals. As well, the area where I grew up was very liberal.” 6. Is the media in the US biased and if so, in which way is it skewed? “Yes, everything is implicitly biased even if someone tries to be impartial. Especially since we have such a divided government right now, it’s hard for news sources to not lean one way or the other. I think some of the media is skewed, but I think it depends on the state of the government and the news source. Depending if the news source is conservative or liberal, that’s the way the the information will be skewed.” 7. Evidence? “Sources are predominantly liberal or conservative, meaning they’re obviously only going to provide information for that side of the spectrum.” 8. Is media bias inevitable? “Yes.Everyone has beliefs and whether or not they try to its hard not to let those show through. It’s also become more obvious with the clear divide between liberal versus conservative news outlets.” 9. How much are they affected by the media versus how much others are affected by the media? MEDIA ANALYSIS ESSAY Sheftel 1 “I definitely think I am more educated and aware of certain things on the news and that are occuring in the world, so I would consider myself to be less affected by what is said in the media than other people.”