Analysis of Article about Aspects of the Media - Essay Example

Article Analysis The two articles examine different aspects of the media. The articles both seek to test the credibility of the media reports that are available for consumption to the public. The articles seek to argue on whether those reports are credible and objective or if they actually seek to satisfy certain people and certain authorities. While the two articles make many valid points about the credibility of the media reports and the effects that those reports have on the masses, it is the article ‘Partisan Differences in Opinionated News Perceptions: A Test of the Hostile Media Effect’ by Lauren Feldman that makes a more effective and persuasive case of the presence of media bias and the effect that such bias has on the consumer of the content which is the general public. The two articles argue that in most cases, the content that is produced by the media is bias. This is the main point that the two articles seek to make. The claims that are made in the articles are however very different. Feldman is of the opinion that media bias has come up in recent years and as such, the consumer is now exposed to biased content as opposed to earlier years when the media had a tradition of ensuring objectivity in their reporting. Bias is therefore a product of the contemporary media. Boreing however is of the opinion that the media has never at any point tried to avoid bias, and has indeed always promoted it. According to him, bias is in the nature of media from the beginning. The two writers do agree that there is presence of bias in the media. However, the article by Feldman asserts that the bias that is in the media news and reports is overt, and that the audience that is the consumer of these news is more likely to perceive host bias as well as story bias in the opinionated news of the media than they perceive in the non-opinionated news. The article by Boreing on the other hand promotes the opinion that the bias in the content of the media is in such a way that the consumer does not notice it as it is geared towards influencing his thoughts and actions. The two writers disagree on different points. The main point of disagreement is on when biased reporting in the media begun. Boreing asserts that right from the beginning; the media has always been biased and has never actually made any attempts at objectivity. Feldman on the other hand suggests that bias in the media has come up in recent times as a result of changes in the presentation style of the cable news that has seen the news depart from the tradition of being objective. Lack of objectivity in the media is therefore a recent phenomenon according to Feldman. The lack of objectivity in the media according to Feldman has been promoted by the use of the cable news. This has seen the rise in the expression of explicit personal opinions and bias in the news coverage. The trend towards syndicated news where the hosts of the shows are allowed to express their personal news has also led to the increase in the presence of bias in the media. The second main point of disagreement for the two writers is on the effect that the bias has on the consumer. Feldman asserts that the consumer is able to recognize the bias in the reporting. The consumer is also able to recognize the partisan views and opinions in the media. The consumer or viewer according to Feldman is can determine when the news content is biased towards a particular opinion or when the hosts are trying to influence the viewer to certain opinions. Boreing however reports that the bias in the content is such that the consumer does not recognize it and as such, it influences the consumer without his knowledge. The third main point of disagreement between the two writers is in the nature of partisanship in the content. Boreing is of the view that the production of the biased content in the media is a deliberate move. Feldman however asserts that in most cases, the bias is not deliberate but occurs as a result of the persona beliefs that are held by the personalities responsible for the production of content for the media. In making arguments for the case of bias in the media, there are fallacies that are committed by Boreing that make his argument less effective. The writer bases his argument that the media has always been biased on a few select examples. He for example uses the emergence of ‘colonial newspapers’ during the American revolution to show the historic bias that the media has had. While it is true that during the American Revolution there was an increase in partisan media, it is wrong to assume that the entire media is biased based on this period. It is important to put into consideration the historic context of the bias as found in the media. It is also inaccurate for the writer to assert that just because a section of the media has been shown to be biased the whole media is biased. The writer also works on the assumption that the consumer of the media content is incapable of recognizing the bias that is present in the content that is delivered to them. The writer has therefore downplayed the role that is played by the consumer in the delivery of content of the news. He has based his article on the assumption that the consumer is unable to see when the content that is being delivered to them is biased or meant to influence them towards or against certain views. The view that is given in the article has therefore not carefully examined the different issues or aspects that may lead to bias or a lack of objectivity in the media. Feldman makes a balanced presentation of his case which contributes to the credibility of his article. By making references to various previous works, Feldman is able to build on his case for the development and the rise of bias in the media reporting and the media content. The author has carried out a careful examination of the factors that may contribute to having bias in the content of the media reports. By examining trends in media reporting, Feldman is able to establish that bias in the news coverage is not a historic trend but is as a result of changes in the industry. The use of research data and analysis of the data from research also makes the article by Feldman more credible and better argued. The article by Feldman can therefore be seen to be more effective and convincing. It has argued on how the bias in the media is developed and used well researched articles and materials to support the claims that are made in the article. This makes the article better reasoned and more credible than the one by Boreing. Despite having some similarities in the claims that are made, the two articles differ in the way that the arguments are developed. This difference makes one article more reliable than the other. Works cited Boreing, Jeremy. ‘JournoList, shame of a nation: ripping the veil from ‘objectivity’ to reveal the partisan hacks beneath. Big journalism, 2010. Feldman, Lauren. Partisan Differences in Opinionated News Perceptions: A Test of the Hostile Media Effect. Political Behavior (2011), 33:407-432. Read More