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Introduction
The mass media is the principal source of political information that has an impact on the citizens. This powerful tool with a significant influence on the perception of political parties can be helpful when expressing a public opinion on events in the political sphere. However, it can also become a tool for manipulating citizens’ preferences and views on the decisions of the government toward internal and external politics. This results in media bias created by journalists being not objective enough when describing recent events.
The Concept of Mass Media Bias
The concept of media bias refers to the disagreement about its impact on the citizens and objectivity of their choices. Nowadays, with the development of online technologies, it is much easier to access information. This fact has led to the appearance of citizen journalism, which means that even ordinary citizens present things from their point of view and thus have an impact on public opinion (Ardèvol-Abreu and Gil De Zúñiga, 2017). With an increase in news outlets and online sources, people start to distrust the media as not all of the authors are objective the way professional journalists have to be. It is hard to recognize whether the article is a reliable source of information or a biased point of view of a non-professional writer.
It is essential for journalists to be as objective as possible and put their opinion aside to provide unbiased material for non-partisan citizens. According to Ardèvol-Abreu et al. (2017), journalism is a political tool that “oversees the activities of public authorities on behalf of citizens” (p.3). To be successful mediators between the government and ordinary people, they need to remain professional in any situation. Nevertheless, with the development of alternative media sources, this task is becoming more complicated. The new opportunities allow the citizens to become more involved in the process of political information production and thus distort reality.
There is another perspective on the mass media bias and the reasons for it. In this model, not journalists, but politicians themselves are responsible for the distortion of political information. Partisans can use different psychological techniques that divert the attention of citizens from unfavorable evidence. Pursuing their interests, they create an image that is beneficial for them. This situation becomes worse due to the appearance of numerous online sources that are difficult to control.
Both unintentional and intentional media bias represents three main types. According to Sterin and Winston (2018), the first type is a partisan bias, which means that a news outlet exclusively serves a particular political party. The second type is propaganda bias, which intentionally represents some materials against some political parties. The third type, unwitting bias, implies that a reporter has a right to choose which part of the information he would represent due to the limitation of pages or time.
The mass media outlets have a significant impact on political outcomes. The media bias can lead to severe consequences. Luo (2017) claims that “collective bias may result in a collective failure” as the essential political decisions depend on non-partisan individuals (p.78). The more people believe the distorted information on political issues, the more wrong choices they make. Thus, the strategies of newspapers have a significant impact on the government’s policy in general.
Scholars regularly conduct surveys to show trends of decreasing trust of Americans in mass media. According to the Gallup and Knight Foundation’s 2017 survey on trust, media, and democracy, this figure keeps declining. They estimated that 62% of all the news on TV and in newspapers is biased. Americans tend to believe in the inaccuracy of news reports, and more than eight in ten adults get angry with this information (Sales da Costa Melo, Balby Marinho, and Alonso Veloso, 2019, p.5). Thus, the trend of distrust in mass media in the United States continues.
Media Bias toward Liberal and Conservative Values
In the case of conservative media bias, citizens tend to criticize news outlets for serving the interests of politicians and not providing a clear picture of current political situations. Media sources do not contribute to public enlightenment but only express the interests of partisans (Lichter, 2017). The misinformation from the government leads to the biased choice of citizens and threatens democracy. Thus, the manipulations of politicians control the society and promote their interests.
Liberal bias derives from the “personal liberalism of journalists” (Lichter, 2017, p. 407). They have an opportunity to intervene in the political process when providing the wrong information. Some reporters tend to impose their values instead of representing solid facts, mislead the citizens, and influence their decisions. According to scholars, this type of media bias is less common than the conservative one (Lichter, 2017). The coverage of political news or election campaigns equally represents both parties.
Examples of Media Bias and their Impact on Public Opinion
One of the latest examples of media bias in politics is the CNN report on Trump supporters (Fox News, 2020). Don Lemon, a TV journalist, laughed at the Republican strategist Rick Wilson and the New York Times writer Wajahat Ali who mocked the supporters of Donald Trump. He accused them of being utterly illiterate in all the areas. The unnatural behavior of a speaker and his emotional reaction makes the listeners pay attention to his words. His observation that the President’s supporters are not smart makes it more convincing for non-partisans as he is not an independent journalist, but a CNN representative.
Another example is the criticism of Melania Trump by The Washington Post (Fox News, 2018). After the release of the video with Christmas decorations, the article criticizing the first lady’s outfit appeared in the newspaper. Ms. Givhan, a fashion editor, commented on her ridiculous coat, which was distracting from the decorations. She did not stop on this and moves on to the criticism of the previous first ladies’ jackets. And, finally, she added than in contract to Michelle Obama, Melania has never been on the cover of such fashion magazines like Vogue. This type of media bias is not about the first lady herself but about Donald Trump, who the newspaper does not support. This way, the newspaper expresses hatred towards the president.
Conclusion
Mass media is the most vital means of political communication for American citizens. The fastest way to receive the original news content is by watching TV or reading newspapers. That is why the information containing in these reports need to be accurate and complete. The results of surveys conducted by scholars show the constant decrease of trust among American citizens. The government should work on reducing the media bias for the people to make the right decisions.
References
Ardèvol-Abreu, A., & Gil De Zúñiga, H. (2017). Effects of editorial media bias perception and media trust on the use of traditional, citizen, and social media news. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(3), 703-724.
Luo, X. (2017). Collective mass media bias, social media, and non-partisans. Economics Letters, 156, 78-81.
Sterin, J., & Winston, T. (2018). Mass Media Revolution. New York: Routledge.
Sales da Costa Melo, A., Balby Marinho, L., & Alonso Veloso, A. (2019). Media Bias Characterization in Brazilian Presidential Elections. In Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Social Media World Sensors (pp. 5-6).
S. Robert Lichter (2017). Theories of Media Bias. The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication, 403-416. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Fox News. (2020). Mark Steyn blasts Don Lemon, CNN panel for mocking Trump supporters [Video file]. Web.
Fox News. (2018). Hateful critics bash Melania Trump over White House holiday décor [Video file]. Web.
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