Media Bias Research Paper
Shanda Campbell
Professor Maki
English 111- Argumentative Synthesis
10 December 2014
Media Bias Covering our World There are many types of media bias that we see daily; if we turn on our computers, read our newspapers, or even watch the news stations on television, you will see some sort of bias. The types of bias change from station to station and from town to town depending on their views and culture background. The types of bias raiding our media are bias by omission, bias by selection of sources, bias by story selection, bias by placement, bias by labeling, and bias by spin. Touching on a few different forms of bias that plague our television and our forms of media will be to show how it may or may not necessarily be bias. This essay …show more content…
will show how politician campaigns and racism are portrayed in our media and how other forms of reporters get their story heard via blogging or other means of publication in order to keep their ratings up by pleasing their viewers. News media have taken one sided stories for years or they omits it and just don’t cover the stories that need to be shared throughout the nation.
In Robert Kiener’s interview he states that “ 400 guests hosted by major Sunday morning talk shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox during the first three months of 2013, 40 percent were either Republicans or conservatives, and only 29 percent were Democrats or liberals; whereas nonpartisan and ideologically neutral guests made up 31 percent” (Kiener, Robert. 3 May 2013, Web). There seems to be pros and cons to every situation, as with the media, so let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Media Bias. Director of Media analysis, Tim Graham, is pro mainstream media bias according to Robert Kiener. He believes that you can tell if the mainstream is tilted left or right by listening to conservative and liberals are or complain about the news and the tone the story may be taking. Where the conservatives want the story to be both sided, liberals lament that the media present a false balance most of the time. Therefore, the media favors liberal views and downplay the conservative …show more content…
viewers. Next there are, or is, the con side to media bias. S. Robert Lichter, the Director of Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University is Con on the Media Bias subject. Lichter believes that the media isn’t “closed shop” like they use to be. The competition between left sided and right sided media, of any sort, would have to include the news from Fox and any other conservative-dominated talk radio. With his findings he can’t say there is enough evidence of a broad pattern of coverage that consistently favors one side. Both Graham and Lichter had good validated points, however the public still watches the media broadcast and voice their own findings as having bias in nearly everything they may view.
Now let’s look at what the world perceives the media bias to be and how it is different than a professional who looks at all aspects of the story rather then what is being said in hindsight. “In 2007 the Oregon tribune received a tip that former Vice President Al Gore had been accused of sexual assault” (Tom Price, Web). Nick Budnick, A reporter for the Oregon Tribune, chased the story. Budnick studying public police files, interviewed the accuser more than a dozen times, and looking over phone records from both the assumed victim and assumed predator. After discovering that the accuser failed a polygraph test and learning that the accusers alibi was that of a homeless man the Oregon Tribune did not proceed to run with the
story. Later the National Enquirer ran with the story and then news media around the world followed them to dig deeper into what really happened and whether former Al Gore was innocent to these horrible allegations or if he did cross the line with the accuser. Questions were still unanswered as to why the Tribune refused to run the story. Was it because they didn’t want to question a homeless man? Were the reporters of the Tribune thinking that his testimony was not credible? Considering that other media outlets picked this story up the answer may never be answered, however some do assume that it had everything to do with the credibility of a homeless being witness to this crime, if one was committed. Another way the media targets their audience is by telling the story the way their audience wants to hear it. For example; if a famous athlete fails his or her drug test the reporter may just assume he is going to be benched or fined. One may only talk about the negative outcome; whereas another reporter may tell its viewers what the player did and then speak of all the good stars of the players career in order to hype up the player for the fans of the team or for sports lovers in general (Associated Press, web). Within the past few years the increase of racial profiling is increasing more and more. When Treyvon Martin, a black teen shot by a white cop in Florida, did not stop to be questioned then he was eventually shot and killed. The media followed this news for months on end and never dropped it because it was perceived to be racism and the audience tuned in on it, so the Medias ratings were up. Now with more and more racial stories coming out of the wood work every time there is a shooting, assault on a suspect, or arrest of an African American or Hispanic the Media will follow the story to increase their ratings. For example, Treyon Christian, 19, a New York City College student had just earned his first paycheck from his work-study job. Christian went into Barney’s retail store to purchase a designer belt that he has had his eyes and heart set on for months. He paid for it with his debit card and then walk out of the store and up the street. He had barely walked 3 blocks before being stopped by undercover officers, searched, and placed into handcuffs to be taken to the local police department. Later Christian filed a civil law suit on the City and Barneys because he was in effect stopped for “shopping while black” (Kenneth Jost). The media tends to feed on stories such as this, however now it is becoming more popular and the blacks and Hispanics are considering this racism and they are taking a stand for it and protesting in the streets when a black gets shot by a white cop or a Hispanic gets assaulted by a white officer. “Civil liberties and minority groups are pressuring police departments to eliminate racial and ethnic profiling in pedestrian and traffic stops” (Kenneth Jost). However, they may need to go further than their local police because it may be far too late and the media may need to tone their coverage down some in order for the protesters to calm down. Buildings have been burned, cars turned over, people arrested, buildings vandalized, and looting has taken place in Missouri over the Michael Brown story and it is only going to get worse if the media continues to dig too deep to make the story seem so harsh. Instead of the audience just viewing the media on television and in the newspaper, they now have the luxury of viewing and reading stories that happen around the world on the internet. Media bloggers started out being not so trustworthy by lying about who they were and what they were doing, to what really happened at a crime scene or at a sporting event. Therefore, newspapers weren’t too worried about them taking over their stories. However, Media bloggers are beginning to take over the web and so therefore the audience no longer has to subscribe to their paper. Bloggers are becoming more organized, more professional, more honest, and they are starting to land their own exclusives. (Eric Bailey) Richard Alan Nelson’s (2004) study cited above on Tracking Propaganda to the Source: Tools for Analyzing Media Bias reports there are at least 12 methods used to analyze the existence of and quantify bias:
1. Surveys of the political/cultural attitudes of journalists, particularly members of the media elite, and of journalism students.
2. Studies of journalists’ previous professional connections.
3. Collections of quotations in which prominent journalists reveal their beliefs about politics and/or the proper role of their profession.
4. Computer word-use and topic analysis searches to determine content and labeling.
5. Studies of policies recommended in news stories.
6. Comparisons of the agenda of the news and entertainment media with agendas of political candidates or other activists.
7. Positive/negative coverage analysis.
8. Reviews of the personal demographics of media decision makers.
9. A comparison of advertising sources/content which influence information/entertainment content.
10. Analyses of the extent of government propaganda and public relations (PR) industry impact on media.
11. Studies of the use of experts and spokespersons etc. by media vs. those not selected to determine the interest groups and ideologies represented vs. those excluded.
12. Research into payments of journalists by corporations and trade associations to speak before their groups and the impact that may have on coverage.
Everyone alalysis the media in their own way and if you don’t believe in one station then you may change news stations or ask a friend what their opinion is on the subject. Alwas research or look for that second opinion when you are unsure the truthfulness of what has just been said because the media may not have all of the information to write about it or to broadcast it in their news clip. The news stations only have a couple minutes to discuss stories and therefore they try to mention all the key elements and they may miss out on the small key elements to a big story. Although it seems as though the media is filled with negativity and stereotypes , the media must fulfill the audiences wishes by broadcasting the stories that their devoted audience want to hear. For instance, if they are republicans then they will only say what the republicans want to hear. You decide. Make up your own mind. Look for those who you do not agree with solely, and when you know who they are then change the channel, throw away the newspaper, or delete the website from your favorites. Voice your disgust through letters to the editor, or emails to the authors or broadcasters. Don 't get sucked in. Verify. Check information from both ideological extremes, liberalism and conservatism. Be informed and don’t allow one media source to ruin your creditability. Stand up for what you know is right and stand up for what you believe in. The power of the people will change how the media tells the story and them stirring the pot to rally up protestors in order to get the next big story is not the way to suck the audience in, in a positive way. So step away, take a walk, and ponder how you can change the world without bias.
Where there is bias, there is always a story to tell.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Sports Drug Test”. BostonGlobe.com/sport 10 Jan. 2013 Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Bailey, Eric. “Bloggers”. 8 June 2013. Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Jost, Keneth. “Racial Profiling”. CQ Researcher 22 Nov. 2013: 1005-28. Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Kiener, Robert. “Media Bias”. CQ Researcher 3 May 2013: 401-24 Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Nelson, Richard Alan. “Tools for Analyzing Media Bias”. Web. 2004 8 Dec. 2014
Prince, Tom. “Journalism Standards in the Internet Age. “CQ Researcher 8 Oct. 2010: 821-44 Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Professor Maki
English 111- Argumentative Synthesis
10 December 2014
Media Bias Covering our World There are many types of media bias that we see daily; if we turn on our computers, read our newspapers, or even watch the news stations on television, you will see some sort of bias. The types of bias change from station to station and from town to town depending on their views and culture background. The types of bias raiding our media are bias by omission, bias by selection of sources, bias by story selection, bias by placement, bias by labeling, and bias by spin. Touching on a few different forms of bias that plague our television and our forms of media will be to show how it may or may not necessarily be bias. This essay …show more content…
will show how politician campaigns and racism are portrayed in our media and how other forms of reporters get their story heard via blogging or other means of publication in order to keep their ratings up by pleasing their viewers. News media have taken one sided stories for years or they omits it and just don’t cover the stories that need to be shared throughout the nation.
In Robert Kiener’s interview he states that “ 400 guests hosted by major Sunday morning talk shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox during the first three months of 2013, 40 percent were either Republicans or conservatives, and only 29 percent were Democrats or liberals; whereas nonpartisan and ideologically neutral guests made up 31 percent” (Kiener, Robert. 3 May 2013, Web). There seems to be pros and cons to every situation, as with the media, so let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Media Bias. Director of Media analysis, Tim Graham, is pro mainstream media bias according to Robert Kiener. He believes that you can tell if the mainstream is tilted left or right by listening to conservative and liberals are or complain about the news and the tone the story may be taking. Where the conservatives want the story to be both sided, liberals lament that the media present a false balance most of the time. Therefore, the media favors liberal views and downplay the conservative …show more content…
viewers. Next there are, or is, the con side to media bias. S. Robert Lichter, the Director of Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University is Con on the Media Bias subject. Lichter believes that the media isn’t “closed shop” like they use to be. The competition between left sided and right sided media, of any sort, would have to include the news from Fox and any other conservative-dominated talk radio. With his findings he can’t say there is enough evidence of a broad pattern of coverage that consistently favors one side. Both Graham and Lichter had good validated points, however the public still watches the media broadcast and voice their own findings as having bias in nearly everything they may view.
Now let’s look at what the world perceives the media bias to be and how it is different than a professional who looks at all aspects of the story rather then what is being said in hindsight. “In 2007 the Oregon tribune received a tip that former Vice President Al Gore had been accused of sexual assault” (Tom Price, Web). Nick Budnick, A reporter for the Oregon Tribune, chased the story. Budnick studying public police files, interviewed the accuser more than a dozen times, and looking over phone records from both the assumed victim and assumed predator. After discovering that the accuser failed a polygraph test and learning that the accusers alibi was that of a homeless man the Oregon Tribune did not proceed to run with the
story. Later the National Enquirer ran with the story and then news media around the world followed them to dig deeper into what really happened and whether former Al Gore was innocent to these horrible allegations or if he did cross the line with the accuser. Questions were still unanswered as to why the Tribune refused to run the story. Was it because they didn’t want to question a homeless man? Were the reporters of the Tribune thinking that his testimony was not credible? Considering that other media outlets picked this story up the answer may never be answered, however some do assume that it had everything to do with the credibility of a homeless being witness to this crime, if one was committed. Another way the media targets their audience is by telling the story the way their audience wants to hear it. For example; if a famous athlete fails his or her drug test the reporter may just assume he is going to be benched or fined. One may only talk about the negative outcome; whereas another reporter may tell its viewers what the player did and then speak of all the good stars of the players career in order to hype up the player for the fans of the team or for sports lovers in general (Associated Press, web). Within the past few years the increase of racial profiling is increasing more and more. When Treyvon Martin, a black teen shot by a white cop in Florida, did not stop to be questioned then he was eventually shot and killed. The media followed this news for months on end and never dropped it because it was perceived to be racism and the audience tuned in on it, so the Medias ratings were up. Now with more and more racial stories coming out of the wood work every time there is a shooting, assault on a suspect, or arrest of an African American or Hispanic the Media will follow the story to increase their ratings. For example, Treyon Christian, 19, a New York City College student had just earned his first paycheck from his work-study job. Christian went into Barney’s retail store to purchase a designer belt that he has had his eyes and heart set on for months. He paid for it with his debit card and then walk out of the store and up the street. He had barely walked 3 blocks before being stopped by undercover officers, searched, and placed into handcuffs to be taken to the local police department. Later Christian filed a civil law suit on the City and Barneys because he was in effect stopped for “shopping while black” (Kenneth Jost). The media tends to feed on stories such as this, however now it is becoming more popular and the blacks and Hispanics are considering this racism and they are taking a stand for it and protesting in the streets when a black gets shot by a white cop or a Hispanic gets assaulted by a white officer. “Civil liberties and minority groups are pressuring police departments to eliminate racial and ethnic profiling in pedestrian and traffic stops” (Kenneth Jost). However, they may need to go further than their local police because it may be far too late and the media may need to tone their coverage down some in order for the protesters to calm down. Buildings have been burned, cars turned over, people arrested, buildings vandalized, and looting has taken place in Missouri over the Michael Brown story and it is only going to get worse if the media continues to dig too deep to make the story seem so harsh. Instead of the audience just viewing the media on television and in the newspaper, they now have the luxury of viewing and reading stories that happen around the world on the internet. Media bloggers started out being not so trustworthy by lying about who they were and what they were doing, to what really happened at a crime scene or at a sporting event. Therefore, newspapers weren’t too worried about them taking over their stories. However, Media bloggers are beginning to take over the web and so therefore the audience no longer has to subscribe to their paper. Bloggers are becoming more organized, more professional, more honest, and they are starting to land their own exclusives. (Eric Bailey) Richard Alan Nelson’s (2004) study cited above on Tracking Propaganda to the Source: Tools for Analyzing Media Bias reports there are at least 12 methods used to analyze the existence of and quantify bias:
1. Surveys of the political/cultural attitudes of journalists, particularly members of the media elite, and of journalism students.
2. Studies of journalists’ previous professional connections.
3. Collections of quotations in which prominent journalists reveal their beliefs about politics and/or the proper role of their profession.
4. Computer word-use and topic analysis searches to determine content and labeling.
5. Studies of policies recommended in news stories.
6. Comparisons of the agenda of the news and entertainment media with agendas of political candidates or other activists.
7. Positive/negative coverage analysis.
8. Reviews of the personal demographics of media decision makers.
9. A comparison of advertising sources/content which influence information/entertainment content.
10. Analyses of the extent of government propaganda and public relations (PR) industry impact on media.
11. Studies of the use of experts and spokespersons etc. by media vs. those not selected to determine the interest groups and ideologies represented vs. those excluded.
12. Research into payments of journalists by corporations and trade associations to speak before their groups and the impact that may have on coverage.
Everyone alalysis the media in their own way and if you don’t believe in one station then you may change news stations or ask a friend what their opinion is on the subject. Alwas research or look for that second opinion when you are unsure the truthfulness of what has just been said because the media may not have all of the information to write about it or to broadcast it in their news clip. The news stations only have a couple minutes to discuss stories and therefore they try to mention all the key elements and they may miss out on the small key elements to a big story. Although it seems as though the media is filled with negativity and stereotypes , the media must fulfill the audiences wishes by broadcasting the stories that their devoted audience want to hear. For instance, if they are republicans then they will only say what the republicans want to hear. You decide. Make up your own mind. Look for those who you do not agree with solely, and when you know who they are then change the channel, throw away the newspaper, or delete the website from your favorites. Voice your disgust through letters to the editor, or emails to the authors or broadcasters. Don 't get sucked in. Verify. Check information from both ideological extremes, liberalism and conservatism. Be informed and don’t allow one media source to ruin your creditability. Stand up for what you know is right and stand up for what you believe in. The power of the people will change how the media tells the story and them stirring the pot to rally up protestors in order to get the next big story is not the way to suck the audience in, in a positive way. So step away, take a walk, and ponder how you can change the world without bias.
Where there is bias, there is always a story to tell.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Sports Drug Test”. BostonGlobe.com/sport 10 Jan. 2013 Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Bailey, Eric. “Bloggers”. 8 June 2013. Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Jost, Keneth. “Racial Profiling”. CQ Researcher 22 Nov. 2013: 1005-28. Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Kiener, Robert. “Media Bias”. CQ Researcher 3 May 2013: 401-24 Web. 8 Dec. 2014
Nelson, Richard Alan. “Tools for Analyzing Media Bias”. Web. 2004 8 Dec. 2014
Prince, Tom. “Journalism Standards in the Internet Age. “CQ Researcher 8 Oct. 2010: 821-44 Web. 8 Dec. 2014