Inherent biases in media and journalism

Logan Leduc

ll504616@ohio.edu

More often than not, people align the content they follow with their passions, hobbies, or even political affiliations. During this election season we currently follow as a society, people are very much split on issues that pertain to their respective political parties. If you are conservative, you follow the conservative news outlets. If you are liberal, you follow the liberal news outlets. It is as simple as that, but it also creates a divide in the world of journalism.

A journalists' duty is to remain unbiased, to write and create content that people of all backgrounds can understand and support, but this often is not the reality. Fox News is far different from CNN. Perspectives on the same topics differ so much that it feels they're covering different stories. We see this bias because ultimately every conversation we have as human beings tend to be held within standards or guidelines and this translates into political news writing.

For example, in an article written by Rhetorica, it states that bias just naturally comes forth in political writing. "No matter how much we try to ignore it, human communication always takes place in a context, through a medium, and among individuals and groups who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially." This quote is very effective because every news outlet is situated in these areas. They are situated in a medium. They are placed within a historical context. If CNN has been historically liberal, then they also stand politically, liberal. 

Picture source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/f1r4gg/cnn_and_fox_news_there_are_still_many_others/

 

 

 In the end, journalism is having a conversation with an audience through some sorts of communication device. At all times, outlets are sparking conversations with their content. Many times, the content is put out there for interpretation and for discussion. It can be healthy for us to support our differences as a human race but during times like these in 2020 ,where the world is already in a real bad spot, political warfare acts as a cherry on top.

Personally, I believe it is very much a cultural reason that we see political bias in news outlets. In a study by Michael L. Geis, he writes, "Unfortunately, I fear that reporters may sometimes seem to be taking positions when they are not actually doing so" (Geis). I used my own interpretation on this quote. I believe Geis is saying that when these reporters are brought into their respective outlets, they are brought into a culture and their perspectives either change or intensify.

This translates to political bias and I believe this is the reason we see it. Great writers, great reporters, and great journalists naturally fall into a medium. The platform they report from and the platform others listen to shape their beliefs politically and overall perspectives.