The All American Epidemic                                                                                                          Skylar Smith

Media plays a large role in today's society. Americans get their news from organizations that tend to have a strong political bias, whether it be to the left or the right. While some bias has very little effect on the way news is presented, other networks use their political positions create a false narrative. This problem was once again brought to attention by how the media chose to cover the 2016 election. Because media bias is a prevalent problem in America, the public must learn to identify the signs of biased media and keep an eye out for these things when watching the news.

The subject of media bias was once again brought into play during the 2016 election with the reawakening of the term ¨fake news¨. Fake news is a type of yellow journalism which ¨consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or social media¨ -Merriam Webster Dictionary. The way this term is used in the modern day is to imply that any media coming out of an outlet is false or fabricated. Analysis of the 2016 election showed over-coverage of Donald Trump and under-coverage of democratic candidates. The press plays a large role in lifting a candidate up or stopping his campaign before it even starts. It all depends on coverage and too much of the media's attention went to Trump. It is often seen that the press will give the most coverage to whichever candidate has the best story, for example, Obama in 2008 or McCain in 2000. While it's true that the more entertaining the story the higher the ratings, this mentality leaves little room for actual policy coverage. An underwhelming 11% of primary coverage focused on the candidate's policy positions, leadership abilities and personal histories. Varied coverage proved to have a sway over the results of the election. This skewed coverage means many voters will be left uninformed, the general public will be left with a very limited view of a candidate. It is crucial that every voter knows exactly what each applicant has to offer and when news outlets focus their attention more heavily on one particular candidate, it is very unlikely for that to be the case.

“The Lead With Jake Tapper .” The Lead With Jake Tapper, season 4, episode 206, CNN, 7 Feb. 2017.

A good reporter knows how to look at the facts and examine the situation from an objective standpoint. But do they choose to? When a reporter doesn't take an objective standpoint while reporting news to the American public, they are intentionally misleading the public to their side of the argument. An important part of reporting is making sure sources provide reliable information and part of this can be using unbiased and unoffensive terminology instead of slang. For example, when talking about undocumented immigrants, using the term ¨illegal aliens¨ can indicate bias as that is a term which has negative connotations due to the way it has been used in the past. Another major issue with news outlet reporting today is unnecessary focus on opinion based segments like Fox´s Outnumbered. Shows that have people with strong opinions debate over a differing topic, without fact checking or an impartial third party there to moderate. When these shows are watched by the general public, opinion and fact are often confused and they tune out the side they do not agree with. Media focus should be on programs that are meant to be informative rather than persuasive and that is where many organizations have missed the mark today.

Gallup, Inc. “Americans' Trust in Mass Media Sinks to New Low.” Gallup.com, U.S. Institution of Higher Learning, 14 Sept. 2016, news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx.

There have been many studies over the years on how media distribution affects the American public. In the 1920’s Walter Lippmann believed that the public has ¨limited personal experience¨ with the government and thus, the media has the ability to ¨shape public perception of the administration through their stories¨ - Walter Lippman ¨Public Opinion¨, 1922. This changed in the 1930’s as people believed that information was put out in two steps, an individual reads the news then discusses it. Researchers found that people were more likely listen to their friends, and not to people who they disagree with. The idea in the 1970’s became geared towards the “cultivation theory”, created by George Gerbner and Larry Gross. The cultivation theory that stated the ¨media puts out a perceived reality which affects a person's world view¨- Cultural Indicators Project, 1976. Media sets the norms for what is discussed within everyday life. Today, it is widely accepted that media does have a subtle sway over the American public. One way news outlets display bias is through the way articles are framed and primed. Framing is defined as the creation of a narrative or context for a news story while the definition of priming is when media coverage makes the reader liable to a specific perspective. It´s a way of setting the public up to have a negative viewpoint of what was being covered in the story. So, after reading a story about the current epidemic of homelessness across the United States or loss of jobs a person would be more inclined to speak negatively about the nation's economic situation. The whole narrative shifts depending on what the reader is meant to take away from the story.

Gallup, Inc. “Americans' Trust in Mass Media Sinks to New Low.” Gallup.com, U.S. Institution of Higher
Learning, 14 Sept. 2016, news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx.

The hard truth is that no news source is going to be completely unbiased. Reporters have agendas or need to fill deadlines and can get sloppy as they try and finish. The best you can hope for is that everything somehow balances itself out, creating an objective article. Even this piece was biased, from the sources I used, to my potentially negative outlook on the way news is circulated after the media circus that was the 2016 election. The fact remains that while it's hard to find truly unbiased media, the American public can take certain steps to make sure they are getting the most factual information available. The only way to truly protect oneself from biased media is becoming aware of the differences between opinion and fact, something that shouldn't have to be taught, but in today's society is unfortunately necessary.

Gallup, Inc. “Trust in Mass Media Returns to All-Time Low.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 17 Sept. 2014, news.gallup.com/poll/176042/trust-mass-media-returns-time-low.aspx.

“The Impact of the Media.” The Impact of the Media | American Government, Lumen , courses.lumenlearning.com/amgovernment/chapter/the-impact-of-the-media/.

Lippmann, Walter. Public Opinion. Merchant Books, 2013.

Gerbner, George, and Larry Gross. “Cultural Indicators Project.” Cultural Indicators Project - George Gerbner Archive