Media Bias and the American Government

How is the media, biased, more towards progressive-liberal values, conservative values or in both directions depending on the specific media outlets you may access? Media is essential to our democratic process. It is our main source of information about the world. The way we understand issues, the way we vote, how we feel about politicians, it’s all based on the information given to us from our media sources. When we try to sit and think of which way the media favors, there are legitimate points on both sides. The media seem to only pick one side and gives limited, negative recognition to the other side. Respectfully, the media is bias towards more liberal points of view.

The problem with the media being bias is they are not able to acknowledge its own failings. To adequately cover America, you have to be a part of the conversations. To fairly cover both sides of the problem there needs to be more attendance in our town halls, and churches. When stories are being told we often think how much of this information being provided is true. Our society should not be worrying if their coverage is fake news. The mainstream media is the reason we have such a growing divide within our country. Media outlets cannot recognize their own bias which is an increasing problem in our democracy.

When you turn on your local news station do you turn it to a station that is liberal or conservative? This is a big factor in how you perceive unfairness in our media. For me, I tend to gravitate to more of a conservative outlet which in turn is bias for republicans and tends to be a negative channel for liberals. I also lie somewhere in between in the social chaos. Neither side in my opinion is unbiased because both try to persuade you to believe what they want you too. Media picks stories that reflect their interests and beliefs. When everyone around you has a certain interest such as liberal or conservative it is easy to think like them in regard to which stories are important and legitimate.

For example, the media is bias toward more aggressive liberal values when discussing gun control. Our second amendment is set in place but yet the democratic party wants to take it away. They use gun violence victims as propaganda pawns and use accusations towards the NRA to try and relay their message. When misleading information hits the outlets it’s easy to persuade the viewers to your beliefs. The media bashes gun owners as being mass murders with only the intent to kill rather than the many other reason citizens own firearms.

The most compared news outlets are CNN and FOX news. CNN has a loyalty to the liberal approach while fox is more associated to conservative ideologies. Neither of these outlets verbally announce which party they are aligned with but it is obvious to us Americans. American’s are drawn into headlines that have a powerful meaning. But can be misleading if you aren’t careful. We rely so much on anonymous sources rather doing our research on a given subject. We should not be relying on opinions of reporters, we should be focused on facts.

When presidential campaigning begins the news stations tend to get on their high horses and start bashing both sides of the political party. CNN, ABC, NBC, all of these media outlets have negative opinions when speaking about our president. Reporters’ have slammed supporters of Donald Trump of being racists just for simply voting for him. If you want a more conservative mainstream media then watching, and listening to FOX News is the media source for you.

Another example of media bias is immigration. Liberal media describes Republicans as “anti-immigrants” rather than “anti- illegal immigrants”. In this case they are leaving out the most important word, illegal. Most conservatives don’t disagree with immigration, relatively they disagree with illegal immigrants but liberal biased media will misconstrue this information to the public to make the liberal media seem more fair.

When we rely on media we tend to get caught up in personal bias as well as media bias. If we have liberal values and the media’s message is something we believe in then we think their being fair. Personal bias can cloud your judgement on the real message that is being conveyed. For example, previously stated I am a conservative but not to the point where I can’t understand both sides of their message. Regardless of the truth it is easy to become divided if we get distracted by the media source.
Reporters are so eager to attack politicians and expose their past rather than praise and commend their work. Reporters within the media are liberal but are they too liberal? Are some of their values and beliefs dominant and other excluded? This is considered selective reporting. The media focuses on precise subjects while downplaying others. The division within the political aspect of the media has been going on for many decades.

The most important thing to remember when watching your preferred news source is money talks. Media will say anything is representation of themselves when money is involved. Since the media industry is a very wealthy business, politics has also become wealthy, which is not something America should be proud of. We should be relaying information that is needed, factual, and represents values and morals. We should not being giving out the message that money can surpass anything.

Overall, the media has a lot of power and influence on our Nation. Both sides have to some extent become untrustworthy. With the upcoming generations and independence that comes with their political approach, liberals will have a better chance of success unless an independent Party steps in and takes over.