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Do the Mass Media Have a Liberal Bias? Essay Example

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Do the Mass Media Have a Liberal Bias? Essay Example
Do the Mass Media Have a Liberal Bias?

Jeff Jacoby argues that the mass media suffers from a left wing slant. He believes the newscasters and talk shows and television shows are all liberals. People who enter into a profession like any of those all have liberal views. Jacoby says few conservative voices cannot hope to overpower the liberal bias that is in the rest of the media. He points that Fox News Channel adds up to about 3 percent of the ABC-CBS-CNN-NBC-PBS news audience. Those who go into the national media are left of the center, there is a heavy liberal persuasion among the media. When there is majority liberal view in the newsroom, conservatives are very easy to dismiss. Jacoby states that the liberal persuasion colors editors’ and reporters’ work. Bernie Sanders believes that the mass media has a conservative bias. He states it is one of America’s best-kept secrets that a handful of huge corporations control everything Americans hear, see, and read. It is true that most Americans get their news from television. A high majority of news channels, radio stations, and TV talk shows are owned or hosted by conservatives. He points out that General Electric, one of the biggest corporations in the world, owns NBC. General Electric has a history of anti-union activity, financial interests in weapons manufacturing, finance, and nuclear power. Not only that, but they are a major contributor to the Republican Party. ABC is owned by Disney Corp., which produces products in sweatshops in underdeveloped countries. Most things you see on the news today have nothing to do with issues involving the middle class. Sanders states there are a lot of programs on TV talking about how to get rich on the stock market, but few specials on how to form a union. Not only is it like this on TV, but the radio is the same way. You would think a nation more or less split down the middle with liberals and conservatives would have the same ratio with radio talk shows, but it doesn’t.

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