[dropcap color=”#” bgcolor=”#” sradius=”0″]J[/dropcap]ournalists have always fought for readership and attention, leading to the coverage of outlandish, controversial stories. On rare occasions, such as the one featured in the Oscar Best Picture winner “Spotlight,” journalism is both unbiased and well-reported. More consistently, however, news outlets are unable to consistently produce unbiased, unslanted work.
The two news networks that are most commonly accused of being excessively biased to a point of inaccuracy are Fox News, charged with being overly-conservative, and MSNBC, which often reports with a liberal slant.
Both outlets cover events and discuss topics that pertain to their particular readership. Oftentimes, in their coverage, the reporters and anchors of the networks do not tell the whole story, or use inaccurate statistics to prove a slanted point.
Most recently, the death of Antonin Scalia has thrust political fundamentalists of both parties and ideologies into a whirlwind of debate and discussion. Fox News used historical events, taken severely out of context, to defend their stance that President Obama should wait to appoint the ninth justice, while MSNBC exaggerated the constitutional role of the chief executive. In order to garner credibility, the two networks called “professional sources” who simply added to the conservative or liberal bias.
Furthermore, particularly with an influx of mass shootings around the country, Fox News has more commonly written articles with headlines similar to “Increase in Gun Sales to Muslim Americans – What Does This Mean For Gun Owners?” and content that rely on radical, flawed and inaccurate ideas and statistics in order to make the story more appealing to its followership.
In the case of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old African-American teen who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, MSNBC producers adjusted sound bites to appeal to their followership. When playing a clip of the 911 conversation between Zimmerman and police, the broadcast aired an edited version that was purposefully changed to give the false impression that Zimmerman’s confrontation was racially motivated. MSNBC unabashedly lied to its viewership in order to portray a message that would benefit their network and create an inaccurate image of the situation.
Today’s media have become frustratingly biased and inaccurate. While networks, writers and reporters are attempting to gain followership, they must also recognize their role in society: people who inform others with factual, unprejudiced truth. Instead of complaining about bad reporting, we, as the consumers, can make an impact. We can be heard by writing, tweeting and emailing our news providers with messages desiring ethical, factual information. Now is your chance to help fix the media and make your news provider an honest source for news and learning again.
The two news networks that are most commonly accused of being excessively biased to a point of inaccuracy are Fox News, charged with being overly-conservative, and MSNBC, which often reports with a liberal slant.
Both outlets cover events and discuss topics that pertain to their particular readership. Oftentimes, in their coverage, the reporters and anchors of the networks do not tell the whole story, or use inaccurate statistics to prove a slanted point.
Most recently, the death of Antonin Scalia has thrust political fundamentalists of both parties and ideologies into a whirlwind of debate and discussion. Fox News used historical events, taken severely out of context, to defend their stance that President Obama should wait to appoint the ninth justice, while MSNBC exaggerated the constitutional role of the chief executive. In order to garner credibility, the two networks called “professional sources” who simply added to the conservative or liberal bias.
Furthermore, particularly with an influx of mass shootings around the country, Fox News has more commonly written articles with headlines similar to “Increase in Gun Sales to Muslim Americans – What Does This Mean For Gun Owners?” and content that rely on radical, flawed and inaccurate ideas and statistics in order to make the story more appealing to its followership.
In the case of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old African-American teen who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, MSNBC producers adjusted sound bites to appeal to their followership. When playing a clip of the 911 conversation between Zimmerman and police, the broadcast aired an edited version that was purposefully changed to give the false impression that Zimmerman’s confrontation was racially motivated. MSNBC unabashedly lied to its viewership in order to portray a message that would benefit their network and create an inaccurate image of the situation.
Today’s media have become frustratingly biased and inaccurate. While networks, writers and reporters are attempting to gain followership, they must also recognize their role in society: people who inform others with factual, unprejudiced truth. Instead of complaining about bad reporting, we, as the consumers, can make an impact. We can be heard by writing, tweeting and emailing our news providers with messages desiring ethical, factual information. Now is your chance to help fix the media and make your news provider an honest source for news and learning again.
