Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Media Bias
One of the most recent questions we've observed pertained to media bias. Has media coverage changed drastically over time? A while back we watched as Will and Jack showed us a presentation on the media coverage during the civil war, mainly on two newspapers. We compared the two and looked at the bias that each one carried being part of the Union and the other part of the Confederacy. As we laughed at how ridiculous the bias were, such as claiming victory in a battle when they had clearly lost, Mr. Crotty asked us as to whether or not the bias in media coverage had changed at all. At first one would think no, the media doesn't all out lie to the public. But maybe the media has changed in a different way; rather than drop the bias, perhaps it's just gotten to be a little more subtle with the way it reports its bias, or at least the mainstream news outlets have. We've heard of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, etc, and how extreme they can be with their views. But with the access to world events that just about every person in the U.S has, mainstream news outlets need to be more subtle with the news the report since reporting obvious falsities is no longer an option. It would seem quite obvious that media has changed dramatically since the Civil War. While they can't exactly lie to the public, they still try to influence the public in favor of their bias.
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8 comments:
You took a stance similar to some of the other posts this week: Media bias has changed, but not disappeared. Again, i agree; media bias is real and certainly not dead, but it has changed since the American Civil War.
Yep, there is a similar post. I completely agree that the false information is hard to come by in media with many of the resources available to us now. The media bias has definitely remain since the Civil War, but the way in which information is provided or reported is certainly more subtle. But I think educated people can pick out these biases if they are paying attention. And, they can choose to believe what is actually true.
Obviously it is much harder for news channels now to flat out lie about a topic or event as their viewers could most likely either flip to another news channel or go on the internet to get the full story. Also, most news reporters would not lie because it is easier for them to be caught, and when they are caught, they will most likely lose some viewers. So yes, media is still biased, but much less so.
I agree with everyone else's comments. I was watching ESPN earlier and I was thinking about what they were reporting and some of the information seemed bias, which is sort of ironic considering sporting reports might possibly be the most straight forward media coverage out there.
Every media outlet has certain opinions that turn into biases in their news coverage. While the media does not blatantly lie about certain events, they definitely attempt to persuade their audience. At the same time people should be able to comprehend differing biases in news coverage and choose what they want to hear and see. It is the medias job to present news in unique variations. I enjoy watching both NBC and FOX News just to compare the different ways the news is presented. I am not persuaded by these channels, but just informed.
I agree. It's similar to what I wrote about actually, so it would make sense I'd agree with it. Media bias still exists but in a different format. AFter all, posting blatant lies won't build a fan base.
Im very tempted just to copy and paste my response from the other post on media bais. However I will just take a completely different spin. Will media bias ever be eliminated? Is it even possbile to do so? I think that it could eventually, probably not anytime soon. However news could become very boring and be very difficult for the reporter. Everything will start sounding like the stock exchange, just a bunch of numbers and statistics
Several people wrote about this so whatever needed to be said has most likely been said. But to reiterate, obviously media bias has changed since the Civil War and most of it can be attributed to the progression of technology. As technology has advanced the availability of information has increased. In turn, people are more knowledgeable than ever and will not tolerate blatant lies by their media sources.
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