Audrey Grone
ag382717@ohio.edu
What comes to mind when I think of the news is the left side and the right side of politics. News anymore doesn't feel like facts and what is happening. It is an opinion based on what people's political views are. COVID-19 pandemic turned into a political issue on masking, getting the vaccine, etc. When did looking out for people's safety become a political stunt? 2020, Black Lives Matter turned into a political debate, becoming coming out as Gay turned into a political debate. No one can agree, everyone wants their opinion to be heard and there is no hearing what the other side's opinions are.
As we talked about in class what you read, listen to, and watch are all bias now. Each news organization is tied to a political belief and people are very opinioned on what news sources they get their information from. According to The Christan Science Monitor, Professor Smith said, "Most people are willing to understand and listen to both sides, to the possibilities of compromise in both liberal and the conservative management of government," he says. "So why would any organization want to alienate a huge segment of the population by suddenly deciding that we want to punt on neutral reporting and instead feed the beast on the left and right?" (www.csmonitor.com)
Photo found off Google
When looking into bias reporting and if it is becoming more popular I found on Knight Foundation, "Gallup and Knight Foundation’s 2017 Survey on Trust, Media and Democracy found that Americans believe the news media have a critical role to play in U.S. democracy but are not performing that role well. One of Americans’ chief concerns about media is bias, and Americans are much more likely to perceive bias in the news today than they were a generation ago" (Knight Foundation). As mentioned above with all of the different ways to perceive news and all of the different channels it is harder to notice what are the facts and what is bias. Sometimes if one is loyal to a news organization they will believe anything they report.
Also, with the news having more of a "talk show" feel and the reporters giving their opinion and reporting less of the facts has been a trend. The news has become incredibly divided and people blame certain situations on the other political side. It feels no one can agree on anything anymore. As mentioned above by Professor Smith the news is just feeding the beast on the right and left.
Hi Audrey! I enjoyed your post as I have several similar thoughts and views. Prior to this blog, I did not realize or reflect on the large divide between political parties and their preferred news source. I also think bias creates a harsh divide between political views as well as between consumers and news sources. I found Americans believe the majority of the news they consume is biased. In order to lessen the divide, our news must work harder to lean towards a certain audience and provide facts without influencing political action.
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