Media's Political Bias - Article Example

Medias Political Bias Media is a critical component in the social, economic, and political arena of any given country. It serves as a unit that observes and reports the activities that unfold in almost every aspect of the society. Most importantly, media keenly follows political events at any given time, recording and reporting them accordingly. Such events can be critiqued as deemed necessary, or analyzed with regard to some interests that move the society in one way or another. For this reason, the media is highly likely to be biased across social, economic, and political divides. Political bias is one of the most interesting features of media all over the world. Continued growth and development of media has enabled the enactment of laws that provide for media freedom. The different legal systems around the world promote media freedom today, as opposed to how things used to be several decades ago. Media stakeholders in the United States and in Asia are among the many players that enjoy media rights and freedoms across the glove. However, as much as media freedom continues to increase, there are some certain nations around the world that still control media activities. Media coverage in the political bias context is a diverse and dynamic aspect to deal with. In order to clearly and critically outline political bias of media, the United States and Asia are the central focus. The two are uniquely different in the way stakeholders in the media industry conduct themselves and go about their business. On the same note, the political environment in the United States is significantly different from that in Asia. While media houses in the United States practice fully operationalized rights and freedoms, those in Asia operate on a relatively uncertain environment. Some countries in Asia have operationalized media freedom, while others still control media activities across all divides. Specifically, South Asia monitors media activities and controls specific aspects of media; especially political activities that are set to go public. This aspect sets the primary differential factor in political bias of media in the United States and Asia. In order to understand what exactly political bias of media entails, it is important to understand the determinants of political bias. Political bias is rooted in selection of events, reporting of stories, and coverage of these events and stories in a way that favors one side at the expense of the other (McKay 149). This means that events that are advantageous to one party are presented at the expense of another party. In this case, any negativity involved is ignored, while that that pertains to the party being taken advantage of is presented. This selection to favor or demean one party at the expense of another in media coverage constitutes a biased practice. In the political context, the same concept applies, only that in this case media coverage focuses on political figures, political parties, or political views. Due to the fact that there are numerous stakeholders in the political environment, political bias is far and wide in scope, and it is also diverse and dynamic over time. While the political environment lays a common ground upon which political bias operates in both the United States and Asia, the extent, magnitude, and practice of political bias significantly vary in these two areas. In the United States, media freedom is not curtailed in any way. The practice of political bias by the media is essentially set within the rights and freedoms of media. The media acts as the watchdog for the public. Media engages in observing, recording, reporting, and critiquing political events from time to time, thereby yielding differentiated reactions to the public (Campbell, Martin & Fabos 162). Political bias in the United States primarily engages two fundamental sides; the republican and the democrats. The idea of selling either side’s political doctrines spurs biased media activities across the different stakeholders and media houses involved. For instance, political concerns that are driven towards favoring republican doctrines may be reported by certain media houses and fail to be reported by others. The same case applies when it comes to political doctrines upheld by the democrats. A specific example in this case can relate to the selection and reporting of political events and stories on Fox TV. The TV channel often highlights the positive side of the republicans, and in most cases air events, reports, and stories that in one way or another demean the democrats. The negative aspect of the republicans is in most cases ignored, a situation that constitutes a politically biased practice. Media bias in the United States context does the society more good as compared to other places around the world. The American people hardly uphold heresy as they appear in the media. What follows politically biased claims or arguments is critical evaluation and analysis of the actual matter at hand. Any given form of political bias of media that is set to benefit or demean either the republicans or democrats is subjected to an intensive critiquing process. Its influence is assessed and the underlying impacts outlined relative to the expectations of the people. It is fundamental to point out that the cautiousness of the American people on political bias perpetrated by the media does not imply that the media fails to influence the people on practices based on biasness. Rather, it implies that the effect of political bias is accounted for by intensive and extensive analysis of the matter at hand relative to the claims made by the media. On the same note, the availability of politically biased information does not mean that the public has to necessarily endorse the information. In this respect, political bias of media in the United States is not state controlled (Bardes, Shelley & Schmidt 241). Having looked into the United States case, the focus on Asia outlines the critical differences between political bias of media in the U.S and Asia. While media rights and freedoms are driven by democracy in the United States, some countries in Asia are yet to account for democracy that will render media free from strict state controls. This does not mean that Asian countries are not democratic, but that some countries are yet to integrate media in the democracy aspect. For the places where media freedoms are upheld, the basis upon which political bias is realized is totally different from that of the United States. India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are some of the key countries that show how political bias of media operates in Asia (Woodier 105). While in the United States the practices of political bias revolve around the welfare of the people, the case is opposite in Asia. Media has been primarily used to cover up critical occurrences in the Asian community, while others are reported especially events that are directed towards spurring state actions in relation to people’s expectations. The critiquing aspect in the media undertakings on issues relating to politics is significantly lacking in Asia. The opposite of this scenario is the case in the United States. Media activities in the better part of Asia are controlled by states. Full integration of media in the society is lacking, an aspect that makes it possible for the state to manipulate political bias to favor one motive or the other. In the United States, state’s involvement in the political bias practices is the lacking factor. The people and the media itself perpetrate the political bias, as opposed to state actions or controls that dictate what political bias the media practices. In this respect, political bias in the United States is autonomous, while in the better part of Asia it is not. Many states in Asia are interesting in making their own name even when there is no credit accompanying such pursuits. On the same note, media activities do not seem to deviate from state requirements or controls for that matter. In simple terms, the Asian media in general, not all, engages in political bias that the state want to hear. The people are not necessarily subjected to healthy political bias that can help in building rational portfolios that relate to the issues raised, events selected, stories presented, and concerns covered by the media (Cheung 125). Therefore, media presence in both the United States and Asia does not imply that they tread on the same political bias ground. In conclusion, media activities across the globe are diverse and dynamic. The environment within which media operates differ from one place to another, and so do their rights and freedoms. Political bias of media serves differentiated purposes all over the world, some for the states and some for the people. On the same note, the media emerges as a key watchdog, either for the state or for the people. However, the common denominator is that political bias of media is not inevitable in one way or another. Integration of media across social, economic, and political divides with or without fully operationalized media rights and freedoms serves as a key source of political bias. Works Cited Bardes, Barbara, Shelley Mack & Schmidt, Steffen. American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials. New York: Cengage Learning, 2011. Campbell, Richard, Martin Christopher & Fabos, Bettina. Media & culture: An introduction to mass communication (8th Ed.) New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Cheung, Chi-Kim. Media Education in Asia. New York: Springer, 2009. McKay, David. American Politics and Society. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Woodier, Jonathan. The Media and Political Change in Southeast Asia: Karaoke Culture and the Evolution of Personality Politics. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008. Read More