Political Bias in American Media - Essay Example

Political Bias in American Media: Is it a Problem? Is There a Solution? The American media has been described as resembling a fourth branch of government. This is largely due to the media’s role as an overseer, reporting the activities of government and politics to the people. Many have accused the media of being biased and having a political agenda. Examining the journalistic practices of networks such as Fox News and MSNBC, it is easy to see the validity of these concerns. Some have said that the major networks in America have become little more than propaganda pushers for the two main competing political parties. In this essay, I will first evaluate the claims that American media is inherently biased politically. Following this evaluation, I will discuss the legitimacy of this concern and conclude by proposing some solutions. In 1996, Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch launched the Fox News Channel. By the late 1990s and early twentieth century, Fox was on par with America’s other leading news networks. Despite adopting “Fair and balanced” as its trademark slogan, many have accused Fox news of promoting a conservative agenda and favouring the Republican Party in its reporting. Some have even accused Fox of manipulating news clips and sound bites to ensure that members of the political left are portrayed in a negative light. In 2004, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused Fox News of authoring an article for its website that contained several quotes attributed to the candidate. Kerry maintained the quotes were fabricated. The quotes included “Women voters should like me! I do manicures”, "Didn't my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate!", and “Bush is a cowboy, I’m a metro sexual” (Burkeman). Later, the network issued a statement saying the fabricated story was a “poor attempt at humour” and had been allowed due to “fatigue and bad judgement, rather than malice” (“Burkeman). The Kerry fabrications are not the only time Fox has been accused of misrepresenting the facts. More recently, Fox was again forced to apologise for not being entirely truthful with its audience. After Comedy Central’s The Daily Show point out that Fox’s Sean Hannity Program “used footage from another GOP protest in a clip about a recent tea party rally, Hannity admitted the network incorrectly used bogus footage” (Edwards and Byrne).In addition to attempting to manipulate the news, Scott McClellan, a former press secretary to President George Bush, has said “that the White House regularly gave talking points to Fox News to promote the administration’s agenda” (“White House and Fox News declare War”). It is not surprisingly, that they currently liberal Democratic Obama administration does enjoy a similarly warm relationship with Fox News. In October of 2009, The Obama White House announced that while it would still deal with Fox reporters, the network should not expect to see the President or any other high ranking administration officials appearing on Fox programs. At the time, White House Communications Director Antia Dunn explained “we see Fox right now as the source and the outlet for Republican Party talking points” (Folkenfilk). The relationship between Fox news and the Obama administration has yet to improve substantially. While there is much evidence that suggests Fox News has an inherently right wing bias, it is important to note that the Republican Party is not alone in its attempts to manipulate the media. Granted, Fox’s tainted tactics have often been more observable, but the Democratic Party has also attempted exhort influence over the mainstream media as well. Jim Kuypers, a senior lecturer at Dartmouth College, conducted an extensive review of American print media in preparation for a book he was writing. Kuypers found that “liberal opinions from editorials and news analyses often found their way into straightforward news report” (Bluey). Reed Irvine, the chairman of the Accuracy in Media watchdog group, agreed with Kuypers going so far as to say “the journalists -- the people who are editing and writing for papers -- are still overwhelmingly liberal” (Bluey). In television, MSNBC has recently been accused of having a pro-Democratic, and pro-Obama, bias. In recent years, MSNBC has “gravitated to the left in recent years and often seem to regard itself as the antithesis of Fox News” (Shultz). In a 2009 study, the Pew Research Centre found that when “asked about CNN, MSNBC or network television news, Democrats were much more likely than Republicans to rate them favourably, and Republicans were much more likely than Democrats to see them unfavourably” (Perez – Pena). Based on this information, it would appear as if the claim that MSNBC sees itself as the antitheses of Fox News may have some credit. Like Fox News, MSNBC has had to apologize for airing fabricated politically charged graphics and images. In November 2009, MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan had to apologize for using fake photos of Sarah Palin in a segment about the former Alaska governor, and for not acknowledging their in authenticity. In the photos, Palin was featured Palin “wearing an American flag bikini and holding a rifle” and in another, the former governor was “wearing a tight black miniskirt” (Slajda). In his on-air apology, Ratigan remarked that “in a very misguided attempt to have some fun in advance of Palin's upcoming book, Going Rogue, our staff mistakenly used some clearly photoshopped images of Ms. Palin without any acknowledgment, and on behalf of the show I would like to say that this was completely unacceptable” (Slajda). The cases and examples noted thus far clearly demonstrate that biases – on both the political left and right – exist in American media. The more important question now does not revolve around whether or not biases exist, but rather their severity. Is it really a problem that American media is biased? After all, it is important to remember that the American mass media is an arm of the supply and demand capitalist model that has been the foundation of our economy for generations. The reality of the situation is, American media networks are private corporations. In this regard, their only real role is to remain profitable for their owners and investors. Fox News and MSNBC, as examples, have both identified a market for their product. So long as they are turning a profit for their owners and investors, they are fulfilling their only real commitments. Despite the fact that the American media, as it operates as a number of private enterprises within the capitalist system, is fulfilling its only true role, the American public remains discontent with the media. In the Pew Research Centre survey, references earlier, “63 percent of respondents said news articles were often inaccurate and only 29 percent said the media generally “get the facts straight” (Perez – Pena). While the media are fulfilling their role effectively, the American people are not being satisfied. Perhaps, the problem is not that the media are not fulfilling their role, but rather that their role is not one that is designed to benefit the American populace. Other Western Nations, like Great Britain and Canada, enjoy a heavily subsidized and non partisan public broadcasting system. The American system, in comparison, is quite weak. Public broadcasting in the United States is not government operated, but does receive some support. It would be useful for the United States to explore enhancing the public broadcasting system and increasing the role of government. Public funding, which is not owned by mega corporations and not dependant on advertising for survival, is unlikely to share the political biases of privately owned corporations. Public broadcasting “has always made a point of not catering to any advertisers or specific interests” (Stevenson). In addition, public broadcasting “provides a means of education and entertaining children and adults in a format that is not driven by fickle advertising money or ratings reports, but by genuine interest in providing the best possible programming otherwise not found on the networks” (Stevenson). If the American people truly want to rid their media of political biases, they should continue to fight for increased federal support for public broadcasting. Works Cited. Edwards, David and Byrne John. “Fox apologises for using bogus teaparty protest clip.” The Raw Story 24 Nov. 2009 (http://rawstory.com/2009/2009/11/fox-apologizes-bogus-teaparty-protest-clip/). Burkeman, Oliver. “Fox apologises for Kerry fabrication.” The Guardian 4 Oct. 2004 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/oct/04/digitalmedia.uselections2004). “White House and Fox News Declare War.” The Hindu 14 Oct. 2009 (http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article33754.ece?homepage=true). Folkenfilk, David. “Obama administration takes on Fox News.” National Public Radio (web) 14 Oct. 2009 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113803593&from=mobile) Bluey, Robert. “Professor’s study shows liberal bias in news media.” CBS News (web) 17 Sept. 2002(http://web.archive.org/web/20080205062048/http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200209/CUL20020917b.html). Kurtz, Howard. “MSNBC leaning left and getting flak from both sides.” The Washington Post 28 May 2008 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR208052703047_pf.html) Perez-Pena, Richard. “Trust in news media declines to new low in Pew survey.” The New York Times 13 Sept. 2009 (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/business/media/14survey.html) Saldja, Rachel. “MSNBC host apologizes for using fake Palin pics.” Talking Points Memo 16 Nov. 2009 (http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/msnbc-host-apologizes-for-using-fake-palin-pics.php) Stevenson, Daniel. “Public broadcasting needs continued federal support.” The MIT Tech 25 Jan. 1996 (http://tech.mit.edu/V114/N66/pbs.66c.html) Read More