Media bias occurs when news reporting is not done objectively. Media is a plural term for medium, a particular news carrier or information–such as newspapers, television, and radio. The two branches of media are print and broadcast, and each caters to a particular niche. Print media include newspapers, newsletters, magazines, and journals; and broadcast media include radio, television, podcasts–and some platforms of social media, such as YouTube, and TikTok.
The media remain to be a formidable power that sways public opinion. But the media’s ethical and effective uses rely on the professionalism of news producers and journalists. News producers and journalists become biased when they take sides and refrain from fair coverage of the news they disseminate to the public. News organizations and journalists become genuine when they generate and spread balanced, evidence-based, and verifiable news. They present more than one perspective in their news stories, which makes them objective news providers.
On the other hand, subjective news is the opposite of objective news and occurs when the particular news story reflects preferences and lopsided viewpoints. Here, the particular reporter/journalist emphasizes one side of the story and ignores or omits the other (And there comes the danger of the single story). Even a news story becomes biased over a trivial matter. For instance, the news story becomes biased when the reporter mentions the full name of one interviewee but mentions only some parts of the other interviewee. Even names ought to be given an equal weight. For instance, if one interviewee is reported as Mohamed Geedi Roore, the other interviewee should be reported as Ali Farah Liban, not Ali Farah. The former’s full name has been mentioned, so the latter’s full name should be stated, or else, the news story will carry an element of bias.
Two main factors that entail media bias are ownership and corporate influence. Some media organizations are state-controlled, while others are independent. State media, unless they adhere to a set of strong principles, serve as a mouthpiece for individual states. Therefore, they only report on issues that are significant to their operations and uplift their governments’ policies. Mouthpiece media outlets, be they print or broadcast, propagate specific ideologies and endorse programs about governments, even if citizens of those governments oppose those philosophies and agendas.
Selection bias is a salient factor of the media. Political ideologies and favouritism entail media bias. Both print and broadcast media outlets select news stories that they prefer to publish or broadcast. Selecting some stories and leaving others out, or giving them scant coverage, is a biased feature of the media. Media bias materializes when journalists report on certain news stories in detail, approaching them from different angles, but omit or downplay other news stories’ details. Even the language and tone used for news stories matter and provoke bias.
Media bias is detrimental to the general public. The very purpose of principled media is to inform, educate, and entertain the public. Hence, the media should be playing a pivotal role in a society’s enlightenment and advancement. But when biased news coverage is prevalent, the public’s trust erodes. Moreover, impaired informed decisions are caused because the public cannot reach informed decisions based on the provided news.
Because of many prejudiced media outlets, people suspect the truth and objectivity of the daily news they get. Therefore, they cannot reach informed decisions that can help them carry out important things in their routines– be they health issues, education endeavours, or health matters. Yes, the media enable people to reach informed decisions, but prejudiced media outlets do not support those goals. Hence, it is imperative to reduce media bias. Ingrained elements of bias are in everybody’s traits; however, that bias can be diminished if certain rules are put in place. Providing journalists and reporters with proper training can be one of the rules; also, having the guts to hear other people’s voices and opinions and having the valour to publish or broadcast them can reduce media bias. Similarly, educating the public on media awareness and enhancing their media literacy can mitigate media bias because, when educated on media literacy, they can distinguish genuine news from sensationalized news.
It is difficult to eliminate media bias. Nonetheless, it is possible to mitigate that bias by acting more responsibly and providing news for the purpose of informing and educating the general public. Unfair media coverage entails polarization and prevents the public from reaching informed decisions.