Media Bias

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Media Bias

• Some helpful info for 29/03 debate

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- Assumptions

• journalism can/should be impartial
• Foxs product branding motto Fair and Balanced
  is the proper standard against which to judge Fox
  news coverage
• focus on Fox as a propaganda machine vs.
  primarily a commercial venture
• consumption of Fox news significantly contributes
  to shaping political views of viewing public

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Is the Media/a Media Outlet Biased?

• the conundrums of bias
• impartiality vs. objectivity
• impartiality (def showing lack of favouritism
  e.g. portraying diverse perceptions of the truth)
• objectivity (def based on observable phenomena
  e.g. striving for the truth)
• the problem with impartiality as a criteria for
  news coverage
• what views to include?
• balance of viewpoints may be biased
• mainstream viewpoint may be biased

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Is the Media/a Media Outlet Biased?

• the conundrums of bias
• impartiality vs. objectivity
• the problem with objectivity as a criteria for
  news coverage
• based on contestable assumption that facts can be
  cleanly separated from ones subjective viewpoint
• based on assumption that meaningful facts exist
  in a complex world and that news coverage could
  be free of interpretation Just the facts,
  maam...
• cedes significant power to journalists/news media
  in determining the truth

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Assumptions

• journalism can/should be impartial
• Foxs product branding motto Fair and Balanced
  is the proper standard against which to judge Fox
  news coverage
• counter-argument all media coverage is biased
• bias may be more or less consistent with
  mainstream of public opinion
• bias may be more or less overt
• those who charge Fox with being biased (dont
  agree with its political slant or argue that it
  does not mirror mainstream political views) are
  using the same criteria for judging bias as the
  Fox News claim that it is fair and balanced

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Fair and Balanced?

• Fox News is poorly geared towards
  propagandization
• bias is overt
• people recognize that Fox represents a particular
  point of view
• journalists double as editorialists
• less problematic than alernatives (no
  self-identified editorial commentary)
• unsophisticated manipulation of news
• emphasis on political conflict vs. ignoring
  political conflict

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Mechanisms of Media Bias

• distorted view of public events
• what is there is biased
• distorted view by leaving issues out
• bias lies in what is not there
• more sophisticated technique of media
  manipulation

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-- Assumptions

• journalism can/should be impartial
• focus on Fox as a propaganda machine vs.
  primarily a commercial venture
• counter-arguments...
• FOX is a poor instrument of propaganda
• FOX is primarily a commercial venture

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Fox as a Commercial Venture

• product lacking any journalistic value
• lowered costs, higher profits
• focus on product differentiation
• creation of niche market
• fair and balanced as branding technique
• infotainment
• focus on sensationalism
• politics focus on conflict

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An Alternative Interpretation...

• profitability is key
• importance of audience to profitability
• media is biased
• media must cater to the view of its target
  audience
• it mirrors (rather than shapes public opinion)
• media concentration
• perhaps not evidence that media can shape public
  views
• may be evidence that media cannot shape public
  views

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Regulating the Media

• FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
• existing FCC regulations on media ownership
• ban on cross-ownership
• restrictions on total number of
  stations/percentage of market
• rule changes (June 2003)
• revision on cross-ownership
• revised rules on number of stations (in given
  market)
• increased in overall allowable of market (from
  35 to 45)

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Regulating the Media

• FCC rule changes
• proponents
• large newspaper chains and television networks
  (e.g. Fox)
• the White House
• opponents
• various organizations
• NRA, National Organization for Women, Conference
  of Catholic Bishops, etc.
• owners of local television stations
• resistance in the House

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Assumptions Counter-Arguments

• journalism can/should be impartial
• Fox is less mainstream and more overtly biased
  than other media outlets it is no less or more
  biased
• focus on Fox as a propaganda machine vs.
  primarily a commercial venture
• Fox is not a sophisticated propaganda machine
• revolutionary attribute is in becoming a purely
  commercial venture (stripping serious journalism
  out of its coverage)
• consumption of Fox news significantly contributes
  to shaping political views of viewing public
• Fox mirrors the views of its viewing public

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An Alternative Interpretation of Media Bias

• content bias
• commercialism
• de-emphasizing journalism -- emphasis on
  sensationalism
• politics emphasis on conflict
• shared by all mainstream commercial media
• explains difference between FOX and NPR in PIPA
  knowledge surveys
• consumerism/commodity fetishism

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An Alternative Interpretation of Media Bias

• medium bias
• the medium is the message (McLuhan)
• television
• creates passivity (not interactive)
• atomizing
• reduces political efficacy
• creates perception that watching politics is the
  same as being involved in genuine political
  activity (and acts as a substitute)
• weakens sense of community and emphasizes
  individualism

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Main Points!

• bias of the media may lie not in the content of
  specific outlets (e.g. Fox News) but in the
  broader commercial structure of the media in
  general
• bias of the media may lie in the dominant form of
  media consumed (e.g. television)

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• CU on 29/03/08 debate-)
• In the meantime- Happy Easter
• magda.piotrowicz_at_interia.pl