Politico - The Subtleties of Media Bias

This weeks post is going to recap on much of what we have learned in class about the media and its ultimate and unavoidable bias which comes with it. The article is found in their "Perspective Blog" section and is titled The Subtleties of Media Bias. I find this article extremely important because it speaks on the very point to which my blog is set up! I've spoken on this subject as well we have learned much of this in our readings. Media outlets are inherently bias and we often end up leaning toward the media to which cradles our ideas and political identify without ever really looking toward the other side of the fence for a better understanding of the information. I myself have found that finding the most unbias, neutral information within the media is more important. This blog states that doing so isn't always the best thing but that we should also willingly read information which comes from all sides of the spectrum. So what we read ultimately has a bias to it whether we realize it or not and this can be witnessed through what and how information is delivered to its consumers.


Types of Bias

1.) Bias by Omission.
2.) Bias by selection of sources.
3.) Bias by placement
4.) Bias by labeling
5.) Bias by spin

Each one of these forms of bias can be seen and understood once one admits to the fact that there is bias in all forms of information. By doing this one can read an article by FOX news and say, "hey they left out ____" or watch CNN and ask, "hey, this person really an "expert?" or "Why is President Trump's tweet more important than the issue in Flint?" Surely there are more important things to discuss than Don Jr's new tie he wore to an interview...



This blog goes on to speak on gate keeping bias to which conservative outlets tend to speak on illegal immigrants and the crimes in which they commit while liberal outlets speak on white terrorist occurrences which have been more frequent. In this, though both may be occurring both sources choose to speak on these subjects exclusively and because of this the fact is distorted and often made to seem more frequent than in reality. This is not to say the act should be taken any less than it is.

In addition, because of the ownership of the media outlet the advertising and corporate bias ultimately shapes the content and delivery of the information. Lastly, this blog speaks on tonal and concision bias which occur through the media. Tonal bias ultimately deals with the delivery of a story to which can be drastically different based on who you get the information from. This is something that I spoke on in one of my first blogs where RT (Russian Television) spoke on German-American relations if we were to go to war with North Korea. You did not hear about this in American media what so ever. Concision bias deals with the fact that information is compressed to the point where the entire subject matter cannot be discussed to a full understanding and because of this really important information is broken down into Powerpoint - bullet points of information to give a general overview of a story which often times makes something that is extremely important seem much less so.

Please take the time to read the blog from Politico and tell me what you think of this blog below. Since this has probably been one of the most busy looking blog I've posted lately I figure I'd wrap the blog up with some funny political cartoons. :) Goodnight