The substantial influence of media on its customers cannot be denied. Media, especially news reporting, has been known to set “cultural guidelines” and shape political discourse” (FAIR). News programming, in particular, is heavily relied on for its coverage of local, national, and world events. However, the vast majority of Americans believe that “the media is biased in one direction or another” (Finney). The bias in the news s prevalent and is largely supported by the nature of the media and the enforcement of censorship – which therefore present inevitable bias in this form of media.
The nature of news media, how it is funded and created, is tailored to represent inevitable bias in the coverage of events. With the advancement of technology, there are, in existence, numerous outlets of news reporting vying for the attention of consumers. Generally, “readers prefer news consistent with their political opinions” and news reporting is then forcibly slanted to please a certain group of customers (Geylani). Thus, the ownership of the news source and the preferences of the intended audience determine the medium through which the information is presented. For example, news websites have been created to attract people with specific views. TownHall and the National Review Online are well-known conservative sites, while the Huffington Post and the Daily Kos target a liberal audience. Furthermore, news media is funded by advertisers. Therefore, the financial wellbeing of news media is compiled with pressure from advertisers. The effectiveness of such advertising, for specific products, may depend on the opinion of the audience of the programs that advertisements accompany. For example, environmentally friendly products, such as a Toyota Prius, would be more effectively advertised on a program that is more appealing to liberals rather than to conservatives.
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Advertisers target consumers that are more likely to purchase their products. If a program does not appeal to liberals or conservatives, it may not attract an audience from either group. Furthermore, even if a non-partisan program could attract an audience, an advertisement for a certain product would be more effective on a program that is watched or read by more potential buyers. Lastly, the news itself, whether or not it is intended to be reported in a certain way, is inherently biased by the manner it is filtered. With so many events to cover, a particular news outlet must filter out certain facts or certain events altogether. With only a certain amount of time, as in a television news segment, or with only a certain amount of space, as in a news publication, not every single detail can be broadcasted or published. And such filtration is inherently an expression of bias by the researcher or specialist that decides what certain parts of an event, or events, should not be reported. Thus, it is evident, that with the nature of the media in society, it is inevitable that bias will be present in news reporting.
Furthermore, the presence of different forms of censorship establish that even though the news may be reported without bias, there are other means that could compromise the objectivity of the content. Censorship is the suppression of media and may be done so for multiple purposes. The influence of the government censors the media, as is the case in North Korea and Myanmar. In such cases of censorship, the news outlet must report the news in a predetermined manner, thus expressing bias. Certain facts or certain events altogether would be withheld from the audience. Censorship is done for moral, political, religious, and corporate purposes, and is prevalent in nations without freedom of speech or freedom of press statutes.
The infiltration of bias in news reporting can be attributed to a lack of a clear distinction between what is objective reporting and what is subjective commentary. As mentioned earlier, “even the most objective news has been run through a series of bias filters” (Eastwikkers). Reporters, individuals with their own interests and agendas, select which aspect of a story to focus on and which stories to highlight. And news outlets, in order to attract their intended audience, must present objective news in a manner that will be interesting to a large group of people, which is generally accomplished through interesting subjective commentary. Therefore, in the case of many new outlets, it is difficult to differentiate between objective reporting and subjective commentary, as it is unlikely for both not to co-exist.
Thus, it is evident that bias is inevitable in news reporting. But although it is important to recognize there is inherent bias, it shouldn’t change expectations of quality news reporting. News media should be constantly challenged and expected to be fair and accurate, despite its flaws.
- Finney, H. (2007, April 11). Overcoming Bias : Hal Finney : Page 2. Overcoming Bias. Retrieved July 19, 2013, from http://www.overcomingbias.com/author/hal-finney/page/2
- How To Detect Bias In News Media FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting. (n.d.). FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting — The national media watch group. Retrieved July 19, 2013, from http://fair.org/take-action-now/media-activism-kit/how-to-detect-bias-in-news-media/
- Objective Reporting vs. Commentary. (2007, March 19). Eastwikkers Group. Retrieved July 19, 2013, from http://eastwikkers.typepad.com/eastwikkers_/2007/03/i_objective_rep.html
