Media Bias

Since television news became popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it has become a huge influence on the public’s opinion of certain groups, politicians, and policies. Televised news interviews and debates run by opposing media conglomerates portray candidates a certain way, and this effects the public’s perception of them. This has gone on since the famous Richard Nixon vs. John F. Kennedy debate on September 26, 1960. Today, the liberal news stations present the democratic candidates, such as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, much more favorably then the conservative news stations. They also present the republican candidates, such as Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, and Carly Fiorina, in a more negative light. The same can be said in reverse as well.

I chose four scholarly print sources in the form of books. Press Bias and Politics: How the Media Frame Controversial Issues by Jim A. Kuypers is about a liberal political bias in mainstream news. In this book, the author analyzes press reports and news coverages to paint a detailed picture of the politics in the American press. Mass Media, Politics & Democracy: 2nd Edition by John Street is about the relationship between politics and the mass media. It involves the impact of media conglomerates and their roles in persuading the public into interpreting political news in a certain way through the use of bias and framing. It also involves the marketing of politicians in favorable and unfavorable ways. Tilt?: The Search for Media Bias by David Niven compares media coverage of Democrats and Republicans in situations in which they deserved equal treatment. The book analyzes whether media bias or fairness is present in different pieces of news coverage, regarding people, mayors, congressmen, governors, and presidents of opposing parties, races, beliefs, and genders. The Politics of News, The News of Politics by Doris Graber, Denis McQuail, and Pippa Norris is about the daily struggles between journalists, politicians, and others who seek to influence public opinion and public policy in the media from the morning newspaper to the primetime news broadcast. It tells of how the media content is framed in certain ways and

These four sources are the most current, due to their most recent publication dates on the World Wide Web, as opposed to the slightly less recent publication dates for the book sources in print. One of these sources was a scholarly online journal article. “Media Bias Skews Coverage of Trump, Sanders” by Bob McWilliams talks about how Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump represent the polar opposite extremes of the democratic and republican parties respectively. Bernie Sanders is on the side of socialism, while Donald Trump is on the side of capitalism. The liberal media sources promote Sanders and the Democratic Party, while it blasts Trump and the Republican Party. This can also be said in reverse. The conservative media promotes Trump and the Republican Party, while it blasts Sanders and the Democratic