The growth in technology has come along with great developments in the media industry. The revolution has been so magnified that it is hard to tell the right and wrong information provided in the media outlets. The responsibility to discern the truth of information by the target audiences has been made a more daunting task by the many sources of information available. It is not a surprise to see the same piece of information reported differently by different sources (Wemple, 2013). The sources include print media such as magazines and newspapers, electronic media like radio and televisions, online sources such as blogs and news websites. Another information source that has hit the world by storm is the social media. This paper is however concerned on four outlets, New York Times, CNN, Fox News and ABC News.
New York Times
The fact that most of these news sources are state-based makes them act partisan in the way they report their news. The ownership of the sources also plays a huge role in the way news are handled and reported. The New York Times public editor admitted in 2013 that the popular paper has a liberal bias in political reporting (Faculty.fordham.edu, 2015). The print media has been on a front line of contravening professional journalism standards. The liberal bias of the NYT is an indication of support for the ideologies of the Democrats.
Cable News Network
CNN is part of the expansive cable and satellite TV in the US. CNN is owned by Turner Broadcasting System and was founded by Ted Turner in 1980. It is one of the most convincing and accessible source of news for all political followers. It is a station known for its advocacy of liberal ideologies of the Democratic Party. It is a leftist station that attracts huge following from the Democrats. Liberals will go for Cable News Network- CNN. Their opinions are heavily shaped by the way news is presented in the media house.
CNN has been accused in different quarters of having a liberal bias. Politicians in the conservative wing have always accused CNN of favoring their counterparts in the liberal. This is a great avenue for the Democrats to spread propaganda and confuse the consumers of information. Last month, Ben Carson, an aspirant for the presidential seat with the Republicans accused CNN of bias in political commentary (Tapper, 2015). He asserted that he would use the Education’s Department to monitor this if he became the head of state.
FOX News
A previous research showed that conservatives prefer Fox News as their media house of choice (Wemple, 2013). Fox News is a promoter of conservative ideologies of the Republican and other affiliates that share the agenda of limited government and economic freedom. As a national broadcaster, Fox News should be keen with their reporting to avoid showing open bias. However, the preference of the channel by conservatives is an indicator of their inclined bias against the liberals.
Fox News is possessed by Fox Entertainment Group founded in 1996 Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes. Fox News has been accused of being bias on several occasions by different individuals and entities. It is even accused of being a pretender in the past of being a non-political outfit (Grim, 2014). The news channel has been hit at by White House operatives as biased in a conservative way that is against development (Grim, 2014).
ABC News
This is the news wing of the American Broadcasting Corporation. It is owned by Disney Media Networks. It is highly balanced with regard to political rhetoric and propaganda, mostly taking a middle stand. This however does not mean that it has not had its fair share of political bias. It has been accused of being leftist and having a bias against the right wing and centrist politics at times (Mansillo, 2014). It is accused of being skewed at times and favoring the liberals in a way that paints the conservatives on a negative note.
Conclusion
The media is a powerful organ that creates an access point between the people and information. However, the media has been misused and it has fallen prey to furthering the agenda of individuals and political outfits. Despite the bias witnessed in media, it has been an eye opener about many aspects of information reporting in the society. It has helped us understand the political affiliation of once thought to be neutral personalities. The role of the media of giving impartial, credible and truthful information has shifted to doing what makes economic sense to them. This is to the dismay of the information consumers who are left with no choice but giving in to half truths and half lies in reporting.
Works Cited
Faculty.fordham.edu,. ‘Liberalism And The New York Times’. N.p., 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
Wemple, Eric. ‘Fox News All Day: Hard, And Conservative’. Washington Post. N.p., 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
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