Media Bias

News bias is the ideological slant that you find in a news story.  You may also find the same ideological slant in a column.  A column is where you would find an opinion, and therefore, you would expect to find an ideological slant.  In a news story, where you are supposed hear only the facts, you may find yourself listening to a reporter’s bias.  Where do you believe that the bias in the media lies?  Is the media, conservative, liberal, libertarian, or socialist?

The Media’s Roles

The media typically plays three roles. In no particular order, the media plays the role of a gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and a watchdog. The media as a gatekeeper simply means that the elites who control a particular news entity decide what gets on the air or in a newspaper. Thus, if the story runs, it becomes news. When the media plays the role of scorekeeper, it tends to add numbers to spice up the content of the story itself. For instance, a reporter may tell you a story about three people injured in a crash or that stock prices dropped by 22 points. Numbers and statistics bring life to a story. When the media plays the watchdog, they are acting as a protector or as an investigator regarding events that might have an impact on your life. An example would be an investigation into government corruption and how that corruption has affected your wallet or pocketbook.

Which of these roles, if any, do you believe is the most important role that the media plays?

Cable Television as a News Source

Is the Media Biased?

Where Do You Get Your News From?

The statistic below identifies the number of households that have CNN/Headline News, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC (as of August 2013).

CNN/HLN: 99.292 million households

FNC: 97.186 million households

MSNBC: 94.519 million households

More information about these stats that can be found at Zap2it’s TV By The Numbers.

The statistic is worth noting, but are you one of those people who gets his/her news from CNN/HLN, FNC, or MSNBC?  If so, which one do you watch and why?  If not, where do you get your news from?

Media News Cycle

At the end of June 2013, the United States Supreme Court handed down key rulings concerning the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996.  Respective supporters and detractors in both rulings voiced their opinions and had their moments in the media spotlight.  One month later, the media has now focused its attention on the aftermath of the George Zimmerman trial and the birth of the future King of England.  Why the sudden shift in the media’s focus?  Why not spend more time on the impact related to Supreme Court decisions?

What Role Should The Local Media Play?

The media typically plays three roles.  In no particular order, the media plays the role of a gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and a watchdog.  The media as a gatekeeper simply means that the elites who control a particular news entity decide what gets on the air or in a newspaper.  Thus, if the story runs, it becomes news.  When the media plays the role of scorekeeper, it tends to add numbers to spice up the content of the story itself.  For instance, a reporter may tell you a story about three people injured in a crash or that stock prices dropped by 22 points.  Numbers and statistics bring life to a story.  When the media plays the watchdog, they are acting as a protector or as an investigator regarding events that might have an impact on your life.  An example would be an investigation into government corruption and how that corruption has affected your wallet or pocketbook.

Which of these roles, if any, do you expect the local media to play?  By local, we are talking about community newspapers or local radio stations.  Try not to consider large metropolitan media entities when answering this question.

Local News and You

Media Bias

The 60 Minutes Interview

The overnight preliminary ratings are in for the Sunday, January 27th episode of 60 Minutes.  That’s the episode where Steve Kroft interviewed both President Barack Obama and outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  About 11.5 million people tuned in.

Some added perspective should be noted in regards to Sunday’s pre-recorded interview.  When 60 Minutes was the #1 ranked show on television from 1979-1980, it averaged 28.5 viewers a week.  The difference between 28 million and a little over 11 million viewers is quite substantial.  Furthermore, the Obama/Clinton Sunday interview beat out the NFL Pro Bowl, an all-star game that has little significance, in the 6pmCST hour by roughly half-million viewers.  What do you attribute the drop off in television viewers from 1980 to today?  Did you watch the 60 Minutes interview?  If so, what did you think of it?