In response to this question, I am inclined to believe that
bias/subjectivity is an inevitable part of the news. First and foremost because Gladstone, in her
work, “The Influencing Machine,” dedicates pages 61-70 for outlining “the
biases [she] believes [we] should
worry about” (Gladstone 61). While
speculative, I am sure that she would not take the time to do such if she did
not believe that bias/subjectivity was an inevitable part of the news. Secondly, Gladstone goes on to assert that
commercial bias is the biggest bias because “news needs conflict and momentum”
(Gladstone 62) so that the news stays new.
When observing news outlets, they “too rarely follow up on stories they’ve
already reported” (Gladstone 62). In my
own experience when watching the news, I too feel as though the stories being
reported on last much longer than necessary.
One example is a local tire-slasher in Philadelphia. Over Christmas break a man was arrested for
slashing tires across the southern district of Philadelphia. By the end of Christmas breaking, having
heard this story daily, for more than a week and a half, I thought the story
would be put to rest. I remember going
home for mid-Winter recess and hearing a news report about this man’s trial and
how he was claiming mental insanity for slashing people’s tires – the story was
not terminated for week almost two months, according to my mom. These stories appeal to the human nature that
craves the sensational news deviating from the factual and becoming that similar
to a novel.
Finally,
bias/subjectivity is an inevitable part of the news because news is a subset of
the media, thus it is an enterprise. The
goal of an enterprise is to gain capital, therefore by using the commercial
bias or any of the biases, which Gladstone outlines; a news outlet is
attempting to maximize their capital gain by obtaining higher viewer
ratings. In short, these biases help to
expand viewer demographic thus fulfilling the latter. Bias is inevitable simple
because of the nature of the news, human nature and, frankly, because Gladstone
asserts such an argument.
-Akaash Agarwal
-Akaash Agarwal
Agreeing with Akaash, I also believe that bias/subjectivity is an inevitable part of the news. There is no way that every single story presented on the news has not been guilty of being altered. The media is constantly making stories appear more interesting then they actually are in order for the story to sell. Although very tragic that Anna Nicole Smith died, the media prolonged and beefed up the story way too much. They used bad news bias to make viewers feel sorry for the motherless baby. They added a scandal and a twisted love story of who the baby daddy is. Although a hard time for the Smith family, I constantly ask myself- was the story worth being on the media 24/7? Sometimes the media glorifies a story and stretches it out to last a longer than it actually should as Akaash stated. I do understand that when nothing else important is going on, the news needs something to sell; however, sometimes the things that sell are very mind numbing.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to commercial bias stated by Gladstone, I feel that another bias not touched upon was personal belief bias. Whenever a political topic arises, it is very easy to guess which side the broadcaster prefers. Although it would be better for viewers to see broadcasters remain neutral in those situations, I understand that it can be very hard if the broadcaster strongly feels a certain way about the topic he/she is presenting.
- Celine Olcott
I concur with Celine and Akaash that bias and subjectivity will always be present in the news one way or another. I believe this is so for one reason in particular-news stations are controlled by people. The deciding of what news to show, how much of it to show, and in what light are all decisions that are made by human beings. As long as naturally opinionated and emotional beings are the ones deciding what news we receive and how we receive it, bias and subjectivity will be extremely present.
ReplyDeleteKobby Adu-Diawuo
Akaash, I have to say that I respectively disagree with you when you say that bias is an inevitable part of the news. It’s true that bias is a very prevalent phenomenon in the news, but in it’s truest form, news is not biased. In an ideal world, news would be the facts about current situations and nothing more. The job of a reporter is to report the facts about important events so that their viewers can take those facts and develop their own opinions’ on the subjects. This is the way news should be. Unfortunately, this rarely happens because it is human nature to share your opinion on a subject when you are sharing it, especially with millions of people through several media forms. So yes, having no bias in news coverage is very rare, but it is not impossible. When reporters report all the facts and nothing more, it is truly an unbiased report.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that bias and subjectivity are an inevitable part of the news. As long as we aren’t witnessing the news through our own eyes, or are relying on another person to report the news to us, there will always be some bias and subjectivity. Like Kobby stated, humans are opinionated and emotional, so news reporting would always carry some sort of bias and subjectivity. And in a way, I would also say that a small amount of subjectivity is a crucial part of the news. As much as we say we only want to listen to the simple facts, it is the commentary on these facts that help us better understand the news and put it into context. Obviously, some of these commentaries can be misleading to viewers, but it can also help us better grasp the situation emotionally and personally. So although large amounts of bias and subjectivity are detrimental to news, maybe having a little bit of subjectivity can actually be beneficial for viewers.
ReplyDeleteI partially agree with Jon. While I agree with Akaash that it is inherent in human nature to have an opinion, the point of news is to present facts in a neutral manner. Despite this, various media outlets are renowned for having a particular bias. Some people are able to recognize news stations for example as leaning more towards one political view point than another for example. So yes, it's possible to have an article devoid of any bias or subjectivity (in theory). Though I agree that more often than not emotions seep their way into news stories, since media is churned out by humans - not machines. Most stories have some sort of emotional side to them: war, politics, tragedies, etc. The repeating of stories that Akaash mentioned earlier demonstrates this quite well. One of the more recent stories that was on the news for many weeks straight without stop was the Newtown tragedy, which was covered many times by various news stations. Obviously this is a horrific and saddening story, and there is obvious influence of news choice by the people watching the stations as well as the ones who run the stations.
ReplyDeleteSubjectivity is an inevitable part of journalism. It is essential to any written work because it provides voice and intuition-based individuality. One might question, “Then why do many media outlets provide similar information on headlining stories?” News media exhibits a system of checks and balances with a purpose of refining all plausible bias. I agree with both Akaash and Jon in that subjectivity, by definition, will always exist in composed work. However bias should not be present in recorded work. On page 61 of Gladstone writes “he who pays the piper calls the tune,” indicating that the window of subjectivity is vast because published material sees an array of contributors (Gladstone 62-70). As mentioned by students in the other blog: funders, taxpayers, corporations, and viewers each weighs in on what is passed as “newsworthy”.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the system of checks and balances, we assume that bias has been alleviated from news media. However Gladstone finds that three major news outlets are holistically biased (Gladstone 61), therefore bias can always exists regardless of media ideology.
I think it’s ok to be biased. Or to read anything biased. Or to read anything that others might consider biased: because even that, after all, is biased.
-Omar Peña
While I agree that people inherently have their own varying opinions, I do think it is possible for them to be left out of the news. I do not think this will happen or that it is easy to make happen, but it is a possibility and one that should be explored. Having said this, I don’t think that opinions in the news are necessarily a bad thing. For one, it teaches people to sift through bias to find the facts. This is a valuable lesson especially in todays world where mass amounts of information are thrown at people daily. Secondly, it would teach people to take the biases and spins into account and then formulate their own ideas on the topic. While this may be preferable, in life we will not be handed an unbiased fact sheet. Because of this the bias in the media can be treated as a tool. I think there should be an effort made to clean it up, but while it remains, it should be utilized.
ReplyDelete- Connor Drinon
I mentioned last class that I believe the media is purely based off emotions. In order for the media to truly thrive, they must present stories that will trigger emotions of outrage, sadness and happiness (etc) from consumers; Is there a better way to trigger these emotions than by choosing sides and embellishing the truth? The reality is that by adding opinions and embellishing the media ensures that the stories they are presenting to consumers are relatable and most importantly entertaining. Now, we all know that entertainment = better ratings, and better ratings = dollar signs. So, I would have to agree with Akaash when he states that bias/ subjectivity is inevitable in the news because at the end of the day the media is one large business and if they realize their greatest profits are made off of stories that solely entertain, they will keep focusing their efforts and using the tactics necessary to develop entertaining stories.
ReplyDelete-Perla
I agree with Akaash's thought on bias but I would add that the main reason that there has been so much bias in the media since its beginning has been the consumers. By allowing ourselves to be drawn to flashy headlines and exaggerated claims since the beginning we only added to the media's need for bias. This why now bias is and inevitable aspect of the media.
ReplyDelete-Jahmel Jordon
Bias is inevitable! It’s like your ego, you can’t get rid of it no matter how hard you try! Bias is especially inevitable when you’re trying to sell something to the public, which is exactly what the news is doing. When you are trying to sell something, no mater what it may be, you will never be able to please everyone. For this reason you must choose to whom you are trying to sell to. This is why some people prefer certain news stations or papers over others, because they are speaking or selling to a bias that you share. Although bias may be inevitable that does not mean that it is necessarily a good thing, it means that one must take everything they see and read with a grain of salt. One must think to themselves: yes this may have happened, but I am probably hearing/reading the story from someone’s very opinionated perspective and so I must try and read other peoples stories before I form my own opinion on something I am learning second hand. I think that if your smart about biases they are easy to work with, but you have to be willing to go the extra mile in order to really figure out what is going on an how you feel about it.
ReplyDelete-Georgia Nicholas
The news is written not be current events but by a handful of lucky journalists, editors and produces. So, is bias/subjectivity an inevitable part of the news? It is. Bias/subjectivity are inherently human and the news is governed by a multi-human machine. Until reporters are replaced by robots, they will carry their baggage and bias to every story they deliver. In his comments, Jon suggested that media outlets can overstep their bias in order to deliver an unbiased report, saying that this kind of story is "very rare, but it is not impossible. When reporters report all the facts and nothing more, it is truly an unbiased report" (Jon). I am still skeptical. A news story may certainly deliver "nothing but the facts," but in doing so, a journalist must decide what facts to deliver. A journalist may decide that this story, over others, is deserving of the precious first minutes on the Evening News. Or, an editor may have hidden the story at the very bottom of page A4, hoping that only the most prying readers might find it.
ReplyDeleteNot only is bias deeply engrained in the production or publication of the news, but it is also quite popular among viewers. Every newspaper runs an Op/Ed section. For a writer, there is little more prestigious than writing his/her own column. Television news programs pay quite a bit of money to host debates among experts and interview very loud economists. The only explanation is that the audience loves to hear a good rant. audiences love to regurgitate a good speakers words. And if the speaker's words did not resonate with the audience, even better! Now the news has gotten the audience all riled up and excited for more. Until consumers demand to a more straightforward report, the multi-human machine that is the media has no reason to even
try overstepping their bias.
Bias is most definitely inevitable. Not everyone is the same, so peoples opinions and ideas are going to find there way into a news report or article. The way you present the news, whether it is your tone of voice or use of vocabulary, you cannot appeal to the entire audience. Without bias there would be not competition and that is what humans thrive off of. I agree with Charlotte in saying that even if a reporter is telling "just the facts" they are choosing which facts and how to present them. So bias is present no matter how hard you try not to notice it.
ReplyDelete-Maggie Barger
I agree with what the majority of the comments have said, in that bias/subjectivity is indeed an inevitable part of the news. Since the news is a tool used by people, to inform people, and since having an opinion is human nature, it is impossible to avoid having someone’s opinion influence how the news is presented. In the world of journalism, news is passed through a chain of people until it ultimately reaches its viewers. At that point, the information has been shaped by numerous individuals with their own personal opinions as to how the news must be written, spoken, and depicted in general. Almost like a real life game of “telephone”, it’s impossible for the original information to pass through the human chain without transforming into something different.
ReplyDeleteThe Le_Meridian Funding Service went above and beyond their requirements to assist me with my loan which i used expand my pharmacy business,They were friendly, professional, and absolute gems to work with.I will recommend anyone looking for loan to contact. Email..lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com Or lfdsloans@outlook.com.WhatsApp ... + 19893943740.
ReplyDelete