Media Bias Essays

According to David Leonhardt, there are several types of media bias as he wrote a newsletter for the New York Times, with reporter Margaret Sullivan. Too often, journalists confuse centrism with fairness, objectivity or common sense truth, but centrism is none of those, it’s a point of view, and it can be wrong, just as conservatism or liberalism can be. (Leonhardt)(Sullivan)

Leonhardt’s ideas of Media bias are broken down into 6 different types. Those are types are; Centrist bias, Affluent bias, Bias for the new, the same biases that afflict society, Liberal bias, and conservative bias. The first type, Centrist bias believes that political centrism notes that it often crowds out and provokes political views on both the left and right sides. Margaret Sullivan also calls out a related problem,” both sidesism” blaming parties equally, even when they don’t deserve equal blame or both parties not agreeing. (sullivan)

Second, Affluent Bias means the media doesn’t focus on just one in particular group of people, all wealthy and middle class and lower-class individuals. Third, Bias for the new is often confused with newness rather than importance like the news. Fourth, “The same biases that afflict society”, is any type of reporting from sexism to political reporting to racism or crime coverage, which tends to keep people interested if it’s a topic that catches their eye or sparks an interest. Fifth, Liberal Bias have more debates with one another or amongst a group of individuals, one of the bigger debates that Sullivan talks about the hostility towards charter schools, one party agreed the other party didn’t, and lastly, Conservative bias, some believe that the information given out is a little exaggerated and most information can be misleading or wrong information, mainly coming from something like fox news or what people hear on the radio. (Sullivan)(Leonhardt)

The assumption that news should be objective is the object of considerable debate. Assertions of a conservative or establishment bias in the news often draw on critical theory, which argues that news preserves the hegemony of society’s ruling interests. (Lichter)

Assertions of liberal bias draw on surveys of journalists’ attitudes and content analyses of news coverage. This case has recently been bolstered by economic modeling. However, numerous content analytic studies have failed to find a liberal bias. This has led to efforts to explain public perceptions of liberal bias in terms of cognitive psychology and elite manipulation. Other explanations include structural biases and media negativism. Internet-driven changes in journalism, including an increase in partisan news, may force a rethinking of the entire debate or even render it irrelevant. If media companies all followed each other, even though they have their own competition for reporting, it may cut out a lot of disagreeing or crime going on because of what’s being reported may not always be as accurate. (Lichter)

Liberalism subscribes to a set of values, while progressivism provides a call to action to achieve those values. It is in the word, progressivism which is a belief in progress, and progress requires action.

In broadcast media, the FCC policy of the Fairness Doctrine required broadcast licensees to present controversial issues of public importance and to present such issues in an honest, equal, and balanced manner. The Red Lion Case was a key legal precedent in defining the role of the FCC and the enforcement of the Doctrine. The combination of underutilized AM frequencies and the absence of content restrictions led a number of radio programmers and syndicators to produce and broadcast conservative talk shows. Notable examples are Rush Limbaugh, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Medved, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. These talk shows draw large audiences and have arguably altered the political landscape. Talk radio became a key force in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. While some liberal talk radio also emerged, such as Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now. (Watson)

So much talk shoe radio happens when you listen you immediately want to go into shock and think “oh my”, or is this really true because you get so much information that’s not always true or correct, this problem can and could eventually cause people not to listen or watch.. Also, I could see the pro side for the media because this in a sense is how they make money, just like you earn honest money you should broadcast or tell honest information.

Media bias in the United States occurs when the US media systematically skews reporting in a way that crosses the standards of professional journalism. Claims of media bias in the United States include claims of conservative bias, corporate bias, liberal bias, and mainstream bias. A variety of watchdog groups combat this by fact-checking both biased reporting and unfounded claims of bias. A variety of scholarly disciplines study media bias. Many news outlets make no pretense of being unbiased, and give their readers or listeners the news they want, leading to what has been called post-truth politics. The term is used to describe the practice of making false statements about events or people without verifiable evidence. (Siegfried)