Election Bias Research Paper

Today whenever you turn on the television, read a newspaper, or scroll through social media, you are most likely going to witness the same thing – the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Especially since we are in the ‘Digital Age’ along with the 24 hour news cycle, there is always breaking news or new findings of information to be reported at any minute of the day. I believe the media has had a huge impact on our current presidential race. This is due to the fact that the mainstream media contains a great deal of bias. With this subjective reporting, it plays a large role in shaping the minds and decisions of the American voter.
I believe that bias is inevitable in today’s media; every network or reporter has a subjective motive to further a political point. The majority of this bias from networks tends to lean left and favor liberal viewpoints. According to research done by journalism professors Lars Willnat and David Weaver, “28 percent of journalists call themselves Democrats, while just 7 percent …show more content…
I believe it plays a huge role in shaping people’s opinions and convincing them to vote in a certain way. With the bias in each of the popular news networks, the whole ‘true’ story is never told. Audiences might just receive half of the truth since it is beneficial to a liberal or conservative viewpoint. Bias in the media is dangerous because people can be highly misinformed about the person they are voting for or against. According to research done in March 2016 by tracking firm mediaQuant: “Donald Trump received nearly 2 billion dollars’ worth in free media exposure this past year” (Calderone). The research found that Clinton has 746 million dollars in free coverage. To me, this information shows that candidate Donald Trump is scrutinized a lot more by the media than is Hillary Clinton. This is not surprising since most of the mainstream media is considered to have a left-leaning