Media Bias

If you look at any news source, you're going to find some sort of bias in it. Whether it's political, racial, religious, or whatever, there's always bias to be found if you know where to look.

The BBC is one of the world's largest news networks, and is supposed to be very reliable. But if you look at their coverage of the Troubles, the ever present war in Ireland, you see right away that there's a major bias. In a recent attack in North Ireland, a Republican sniper took out a soldier on patrol through a crowded neighborhood. The rest of the squad rushed the building, and, when they couldn't find the sniper, destroyed the building. The BBC reported it as a necessary measure to prevent terrorism, but every other news source said it was gross misconduct and highly unnecessary colateral damage.

Everywhere you look, there's bias. During the recent American presidential election, every single news outlet was pulling for one side or the other. There was little to no middle ground, and there was very little said about anyone other than the Republican and Democratic candidates.

Reporters covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are very biased, but in a different sort of way. The ones who are on the ground reporting from the war torn countries are obviously against it, since they can see the devestation first hand. But they also see the good that the continued American presence is doing, and they have a better feel for just what the situation is like. Reporters on the homefront are either pro or anti war, and their news segments back this up. The only problem with them is that they're getting the news delivered to them, and they can make what they want of it, and report only what they deem necessary. They don't have all the facts, and definitely don't report all of the ones they do have.

Sensationalist journalism is nothing but bias. They only report on stories that they think will be appealing to a certain audience, and report them in a highly biased manner to draw in more viewers. It also seems like, on most networks, if a minority is killed, they just kind of mention it offhandedly, like it's just a normal everyday occurence, because they're using racial stereotypes. But if a white suburban kid dies, they make a big deal out of it.

FOX is a highly contradictory company. Their news networks are extremely biased, with majorly conservative views. On their cable network though, their programming is exactly the opposite. Most of their shows have obvious liberal leanings, and often are in direct opposition of the views on their news networks.