There is a constant debate in
America about which way the media bias leans. After all, shouldn’t the media be
objective?
No.
There is no such thing as an
objective point of view.
No matter how much we may try
to ignore it, human communication always takes place in a context.
The collective influences on
a message are its bias.
Bias in and of itself does
not make a message incorrect or unfair, but it is important for the reader to
understand it exists.
The journalistic ethics of
objectivity and fairness are strong influences on the profession. So are the
views of editors and senior management, and the pressures from external forces,
such as advertisers and shareholders.
The ethical heights
journalists set for themselves are not always reached.
A bigger problem than bias is
the media’s ability to decide what is and is not news.
Hundreds of thousands of
pro-life demonstrators gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 25 for the
annual March For Life, in protest against of legalized abortion.
However, judging from the
"news" coverage of the major television networks and daily papers,
this event never occurred.
This is NOT a post about
pro-life/pro-choice positions, nor is it about gun control, although that
subject gets a mention below.
Nor is it a post about
liberalism versus conservatism. As I have said before, there is a time for
both, when they are being practiced appropriately (which we do NOT do in the
United States Socialist Republic).
What this post IS, is a post
about the responsibility of the media to report the news.
Even if you are a major news
outlet pushing a pro-choice agenda, wouldn’t you be hard pressed to argue that
this march was not a reportable event?
The day’s event was not
mentioned at all on major news broadcasts that evening.
Not a single syllable of
coverage.
Do you know what was given
thirty seconds?
Whether or not Subway’s
“five-dollar foot-longs” were, in fact, only eleven inches long!
Thirty seconds on a half hour
news broadcast, where roughly twenty minutes is news content.
That means there are forty
blocks of thirty seconds each available for the news stories of the day.
And one of those forty
precious blocks of time was devoted to delivering the American people from the
evils of shortened hoagie rolls.
THAT is what passes for
national news these days!
Granted, the Christian Bible has a lot to say about the five-dollar foot long issue.
You only have to look to the Sermon On The Mountain and the miracle of the loaves and fishes to see hoagies mentioned.
In fact, this event marks the first sighting of the hoagie sandwich, which was blessed!
But I think that the march was a little more news-worthy.
Was the omission of the March
For Life the furthering of the media’s agenda against life, or was it simply a
decision that the Subway “scandal” would attract more viewers?
I am sure you will find
people who will argue both. Maybe it is even a little of both.
Interestingly enough, the
next day, all major media covered a much smaller demonstration (1,000 marchers)
looking for gun control.
Hmmm…a demonstration that was
99.8 percent SMALLER than the March For Life was given coverage by the networks,
and coincidentally, the larger demonstration was for a cause contrary to the
major network agenda, and the insignificant one was is alignment with their
agenda.
Are you certain the media is
not pushing an agenda?
Saying that half a million
people were too silly to stay in out of the cold is bias.
Failing to cover them at all
is something far more devious.
And I would caution any
reader who is pro-choice who may be reading this and thinking, “good-screw
them, pro-lifers,” to beware.
Today the media may be
backing YOUR cause.
But what about tomorrow?
Will the media always be
there to support your cause?
Freedom of the press carries
with it responsibility. Is our press shirking theirs?
Note to Stephen T. McCarthy, who left a comment about the missing text in my original post even though it looked fine when I previewed it-it was easier to delete that post and start over, hence your missing comment. Thanks, though, for alerting me to the snafu.
