Media bias has been an issue in our society for several decades. Media bias is the bias or perceived bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term “media bias” implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism. Several forms of media bias exists in today's society including mainstream bias, advertising bias,corporate bias, etc. According to Kirby Goidel and Keith Gaddie, both who are journalists for The Huffington Post, “ The most common charge is that the mainstream media suffer from a liberal bias”(Goidel). Not only is liberal media bias the most common form of media bias, it may also be one of the oldest. According to Jennifer Harper, a Washington Times reporter, media bias can be traced back to 1964. Harper found evidence to prove this when Robert Lichter, a veteran media researcher, examined the voting records of the nation’s journalists to find that 81 percent to 94 percent voted democratic in presidential elections from 1964 to 1976(Harper).This trend has continued according to Rich Rubino, a journalist for …show more content…
Trust in the media has not reached over 50 percent since 2004. This is according to McCarthy who states, “ ...the level of trust fell significantly, from 54 percent in 2003 to 44 percent in 2004(McCarthy). Although trust levels rebounded to 50 percent in 2005, they have failed to reach a full majority since”. McCarthy also states that even democrats, who have traditionally shown high levels of confidence in the media, dropped to a 14- year low of 54 percent in 2014(McCarthy). Although a great deal of Americans still have trust in the media, every year that number drops. As pointed out Gallup Inc. “ Americans’ overall trust in the fourth estate continues to be significantly lower now than it was 10 to 15 years ago(Gallup Inc). Democrats are the only political group that has a majority of trust in the media with 52 percent. This is most like caused by the fact that the media is very liberal. According to Gallup Inc. only one in three Americans (34 percent) say the media is just about right in terms of coverage(Gallup Inc). Only 19 percent of Americans say the media are too conservative, which is relatively low. Studies have consistently found similar finding according to Carney, “ Studies consistently show that reporters and editors stand to the left of the American center”(Carney). This again points to a liberal media bias. The one sided point of view that the media has today has caused levels of