Biased and Unbiased Reporting

Kassandra Azzoo, Staff writer

As readers and viewers, our sources of information are provided by news stations and journalists. There are certainly two sides to every story and unfortunately there are some instances where some publication abuse their maintained power. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but favoritism certainly plays a role regarding which side of the story may be covered.

Reporting a story is cycling out known information to the general public and sharing incoming new information. Information may assist consumers with deciding what product they would prefer purchasing or a voter knowing which candidate she or he may favor for the upcoming presidential election. Similar to any practical way of relaying information out, corruption is bound to occur.

Typically, our sources for information are biased; unbeknownst to the general public because of how often corruption occurs. For example, one news station may report five stories on Donald Trump, and one on Bernie Sanders within the same week. The publicity is not gained because one party is doing more, it is simply because of the overall favoritism for the candidate. From a political perspective, our media often relies on government officials to gain correct information.  Arrangements may occur, and news stations may partner with some political figures.

Several news stations and journalists may favor specific politicians and make their desired politician appear to be favorable for the audience. A news station may deny a particular candidate exposure to the public and instead broadcast another candidate. Either way, if the story is biased, the headlines will reveal the broadcaster’s perspective on the topic.

The upcoming presidential election is being affected by the biased reporting from newscasters. As high school students, our parents or guardians may not see why a particular candidate may be beneficial for us. Family members may see and hear about other candidates more often and question, “ What has (Inset a candidate here) done?”, simply because of the candidates lack of publicity.

There is a “narrative logic”, incorporated in media. The “narrative logic”, has some reporters create a scenario where there is a villain and a hero. By dramatizing events, people are prone to look into the story and side with whichever side seems to be heroic. Certainly it is the media’s job to relay information; however gaining attention at the expensive of improperly informing the general public is questionable.

The media has power in setting cultural guidelines and creating political favoritism.  Word choice is essential for reporters and journalists because it shapes and influences the audience’s overall opinions. Usually, stories are worded in a way where the broadcaster/author’s idea of what is correct would seem favorable. Headlines are unfortunately often biased without the reader or viewer even realizing it.  

 

http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/06/how-do-you-tell-when-the-news-is-biased/