Essay Example on Media Biasness: Investigating Coverage of Political Matters by the Media

According to the recent report of 20th July, a post from Washington and New York Times it shows that the politicians from the Democrats side got less attention and capture than those from the Republican. The report was widely shared on the social media causing mixed reactions ad comments from the citizens, as people termed it as Media biasness. To ascertain the truth about these allegations, I have done quite intense research and especially on the coverage of the political matters by the media. The truth is since the Republicans started ruling and controlling the political arena, they have also taken over news coverage of the political issues (Stern, 2017).

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Claims about the biasness of the liberal media date back to the time when US was in a war with Vietnam where the adverse reports which were being aired out by the media about the US use military greatly affected them. And in the 1980s when there was campaign for presidency the then-presidential candidate George H.W. Bush termed media as "mournful pundits" because the reporters reported he was speaking while hesitating. In 2008 elections for the position of presidency the media was accused of playing a vital role in helping Barack Obam to amount to the top sit while discriminating Sarah Palin and John McCain. The nomination of Democrats that was between Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton was more of historical than the Republican side this drew the attention of media more compared to other candidates. Some people felt that the Republican nominee John McCain didn't get good coverage which is not true since he was one of the favorites of the media due to his straight talk manner and nearly all his rallies were being covered across the country.

Different people have their way of measuring media biasness. Some look at the coverage volume, political activities associated with either Republican or Democrats; this causes mixed reactions and views from citizens. People criticize media without understanding the role of the media for acting as a watchdog for both the government and the opposition party and also to report political issues from both sides of the parties (Stern, 2017). Some journalist like George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey are never bound to the traditional ethical standards of news reporting of not getting too attached to a given political candidate.

Sometimes reporters give out reports that are essential to the state; hence, they have to ensure every story they air on media is in line with the ethical standards to avoid criticism. When discussing allegations of liberal media bias, it's essential to define the media. Media personnel like George Clooney, who was not afraid to involve in political matters and even participated in the election of candidates. Oprah Winfrey, on the other hand, ensured that Obama won the Democrats primary elections, although she was accused of abandoning her fellow woman Hilary Clinton. Those were some of the journalists who have worked to fight media biasness in the industry.

Many reasons can be stipulated to show that the report tabled this year on June that Republican gets more coverage than Democrats is not valid. Currently, most of the government potions and top offices are held by the Republicans, from the House of Representatives, the Senate, where they control 33 state governorships and 31 state legislatures. As a result, we expect most of the news to cover the Republicans than Democrats since they are in power (Stern, 2017). Reporters write and report news based on the accessibility and the weight of the report; thus most of the times e reporters will give their stories on politicians who are easily accessible as a way of political balance of power. When Democrats are in power the media tend to make more references to them than Republicans, and the same things happen when Republicans are in power, showing that there is no biasness in liberal media coverage. It is not a new thing to see most of the ruling parties also dominating the media since they are the ones carrying out most of the operations of a country. Thus, it has been the same situations over years, and it does not show that the media is bias.

Apart from politics, there is an issue of racial and gender discrimination when to come to media reports. A report was ones stipulated by media people referring to black people as less intelligent. Most for the stories touching on the African Americans were only associated to wars and usage of drugs like cocaine, when a bad thing like a black person has been shot dead by police officer occurs, that news coverage can never get much attention as when a white person is shot. This story can indicate that media has to some extent, discriminated black people. Women have never been seriously considered when it comes to leadership and even their stories being covered like their male counterparts, since ancient days and this is a problem which is still being experienced till to date. Hence it can be reasonable to state that media is still failing to ensure that there is no racial and gender discrimination (Groseclose, 2011).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the question as to whether the American media has liberal biasness, according to me as much the media group have tried to prevent the issue of discrimination and biasness in their reporting and coverage it is still being felt as many claims have emerged including the liberal bias and conservative biasness. Its is due to the polarization of most of the political parties and failure to follow the ethical standards of professional journalism (Groseclose, 2011). Most reporters tend to focus on stories that will give them fame and money instead of substance news. As much as media is doing good work they should put measures to punish those reporters who still embrace racial and gender discrimination in their reporting.

References

Groseclose, T. (2011). Left turn: How liberal media bias distorts the American mind. New York: St. Martin's Press

Stern, K. (2017). Republican like me: How I left the liberal bubble and learned to love the right.