Technology makes the instantaneous and virtually ubiquitous consideration of world events possible, but evidence of bias in the news media can make you wonder whether you can believe what you see and hear. World news is being transmitted by a global media, straight through a prism of sometimes deliberate and sometimes inadvertent bias.
The most timely and blatant example of bias in the media continues to be the coverage of President Obama, which began in earnest while his presidential campaign and has gathered momentum ever since. The mainstream media's favoritism for Barack Obama while the normal selection was even more egregious than that alleged by the Hillary Clinton campaign while the democratic primary. Studies show that candidate Obama received more media coverage ample than other candidates and much less negative press than his opponents. The media's extraordinary deference to the president often makes us wonder if the media is acting more as an eager postponement of his collective relations team than as a group of supposedly impartial journalists. They appear to be advocating rather than reporting on the president's activities.
Members of the media would have us believe that the appearance of bias is a figment of our imaginations, but do not publicize the fact that more than a third of them identify themselves as liberal compared to less than ten percent who claim a conservative orientation. The media also does not facilely admit that most journalists tend to vote emphatically democratic, and have done so for decades. Most interesting, however, is that although they fail to see bias in themselves, more than two-thirds of reporters, editors, producers, and executives of mainstream media outlets facilely agree that Fox News is decidedly conservative. Are we admittedly supposed to believe that the media's clear orientation toward liberal ideas and democratic candidates has no bearing on its objectivity? You may draw your own conclusions.
In increasing to the clear lopsided political orientation of the media generally, mounting market pressures in journalism are also causing many media sources to succumb to sensationalism in order to capture shop share, attain popularity in ratings and finally to make profits. Is it any wonder that we examine the integrity of our news media?
Bias takes many forms. Facts may be distorted in news stories or may be conveniently omitted. Newsworthy stories may be fully excluded from newspapers or Tv programs or buried so far back in printed media, or so late in televised programs to insure that they are glossed over or missed altogether. Other sources of bias may be less obvious, such as when stories load up with devotee testimony to withhold one viewpoint, or when stories use language to "spin" the facts to favor one side over another.
What is the average man to do in order to get to the truth? First, know the incompatibility between news commentary or editorials and the news itself. The previous is, by definition, notion and likely to be biased; the latter is supposed to offer a balanced view of all sides of a story. Unfortunately, former news outlets, such as The New York Times, Nbc, and many others, have blurred the line between former news reporting and opinionated commentary. On cable Tv, chances are high that if a "news program" is absorbing and entertaining, it is probably news commentary. Offerings such as "Hardball," with Chris Matthews and "Hannity's America," with Sean Hannity are examples.
Second, ascertain the most knowledgeable sources and focus on individuals who substantiate their viewpoints with concrete examples or experience. I have found only a handful of politicians, government officials, commerce experts, and media pundits that admittedly furnish thoughtful comprehension and meaningful perspective on topics and issues. (Many commentators speak in generalities, make non-committal comments or repeat the mainstream view.) Verify the credibility of the sources you pick by researching their backgrounds and their affiliations on the internet. comprehension their backgrounds and expert ties may help you to verify expertise and identify conflicts of interest that may bias a source's perspective on a topic.
Third, limit your news venues, such as newspapers, televised programs or internet-based media, to those offering the most substance and a broad range of perspectives. In addition, for national political, economic and societal matters, you should consider viewing C-Span, which televises congressional hearings, important speeches and other events on numerous topics. Although a time-inefficient medium, C-Span provides a requisite opening to hear directly from habitancy creating the news, without the filter of a third party.
These are difficult times and decisions are being made today by our leaders that will have a far-reaching and profound supervene on our lives for many years to come. As citizens of a free democracy, we have both a right and an compulsion to get to the truth.
News Media Bias - Do You Know What's in effect Going On?
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