Bias In The Media

Bias is present in all forms of media and can be seen in everyday life. It is the act of forming a preconceived opinion in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another. Sometimes these forms of bias are considered to be unfair because they often only favor one side. In being biased and only favoring one side or idea, one does not take into consideration other people’s beliefs. If others do believe differently, a bias thinker will claim that the other is wrong. Bias is present in all types of media, such as websites, news sources, and even social media. However it is strongly present in different news channels because of the fact that there are so many stations that people can easily access. Ultimately, by having biased …show more content…
Some of the reasons for which there is bias in the media is to increase the amount of viewers tuning in. For example, if an accident occurs and 2 people die, news producers will potentially claim that 20 people were injured or killed in this hypothetical accident. By claiming this, more people will be inclined to watch or tune in. Of course the news channel will eventually have to go back and clarify that only 2 people’s lives were lost, but that channel will still have increased viewing rates by including forms of bias. Another form of bias is bias by omission. This occurs when forms of media interpret one chain of events but neglect to inform viewers about another side of the event. This usually is due to political agendas and occurs between liberal and conservative news channels. According to the online article “Media Bias” by Student News Daily, the author Brent H. Baker claimed that “[The bias] is not the result of a vast left-wing conspiracy – [there is] an unconscious “groupthink” mentality that taints news coverage and allows only one side of a debate to receive a fair hearing.” So basically, viewers will receive the side of the story that the media wants to tell and portray. However this can ultimately be detrimental since viewer are unable to become informed of the truth which may potentially lead to an unawareness about current events that occur around the world …show more content…
Before, television viewers were limited to regular television. Yet in today’s day and age, technology has become so advanced that viewers have access to a wider range of channels thanks to the creation of cable television. Before cable television, news broadcasts were all mostly liberal or moderate at the most. However, after cable television, channels have transformed, giving people access to a perspective that is extreme and even conservative. This has led to people being more likely to favor certain channels over others based on the viewer’s political agendas. Furthermore, this has also caused some news anchors to become well known for either being obviously bias or even for being openly independent and not favoring any sides of a story. One of these anchors is Megyn Kelly who has recently become the second most viewed anchor due to her independent views. Clearly her ratings as a news anchor shows that the public strongly wishes to find out all forms of truth in every current