Mass Media Bias

The news has changed significantly over the years in many different ways. Years ago many people first source for the latest news is to read the local newspaper who were often very fact based. But with the new generation of mass media and the new technology advances things have changed drastically. The mass media bias chart gives a illustration of where most known media sources stand and how far left or right they may go. In the past, national evening news programs, local evening news programs, and the front pages of print newspapers were dominated by fact-reporting stories,” says the chart’s creator, patent attorney Vanessa Otero. “Now, however, many sources people consider to be ‘news sources’ are actually dominated by analysis and opinion pieces.”

She first created the chart in 2016 and has gain a lot of attention due to the important information displayed. Otero also explained why such bias is so troubling for our society. “I think the extremes are very toxic and damaging to the country,” she explained to MarketWatch. “These extreme sources play on people’s worst instincts, like fear and tribalism, and take advantage of people’s confirmation biases.” Media bias is a huge issue because it divides us as a country when we can’t relate or understand another person's point of view. Our country is built on the foundation of being a democracy but it suffers because of many mass media channels. Bias on one hand is a good thing because it individualizes people and gives them their own opinion but hidden bias on the other hand misleads and divides us as a country. Many people tune into the same media channels and social media channels to gain information and the information is very personalized and bias. Only exposing people to the information they already agree with. This then makes people believe that the opposing view is completely wrong when they may not always be true. If the amount of one sided information is reduced then many people will better understand diverse perspectives. There are five categories that each media outlet can go into. Left and lean left which is essentially liberals, right and lean right which is conservatives, and neutral which is the goal. There are also five forms of bias. Centrist bias, Bias for the new, The same biases that affect society, Liberal bias, and Conservative bias. Centrist bias often can crowd out thoughts on both the left and right. Also known as bothsideism in which a person can blame both sides of the party with no positive outlook. Almost trying to sabotage the news being displayed. Bias for the new is the next type of bias. Journalist often mistake newness with importance. For example if two politicians are running for a campaign instead of talking about their plans to help create jobs the news outlet may focus on a the big argument they had because it may be more interesting to talk about. The third form is bias that affects our society today. Sexism and racism are two things media often portrays and shows on a daily basis. Crime coverage for example African Americans are often not referred to by their name and will be called many different things. Liberal and conservative bias is something that many people are well aware of. Whether the channel leans more right or left it will change the way the information is presented. In order for our country to keep growing and coming together we must be aware to other around and be respectful of their beliefs in different ideas. It is important to view all sides of a situation before coming to a conclusion.

More information at: https://www.allsides.com/blog/introducing-allsides-media-bias-chart

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/opinion/media-bias-howard-schultz.html