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Idongesit Itauma
Ms. Bonnette
English III AP
4 February 2016
Commercial Media Bias
American journalism started as a modest business until it was employed as a
political instrument in the effort for independence from Great Britain. After the Bill of
Rights protected the freedom of the press, the power of the media was recognized and
it expanded swiftly after the American Revolution. During the nineteenth century, the
penny press played a big part in the press with cheap and mass-produced newspapers
which increased the growth of the press rapidly. Large newspapers had turned into
lucrative stations where sectionalism, verity, mud racking, news and promotion were
prevalent. With the introduction of the radio and television, most of the American Media
became owned by big establishments and amalgamations. Although the United States
media is supposed to be a symbol of knowledge and authenticity, it has become a
collection of corporations who only report the news for the sole purpose of gaining
commercial profit.
Narration
Because the public cannot choose the right people as leaders or make good
decision without knowing and understanding the correct information, they depend on the
press to guide them with pure intent without bias. However, the media, like every

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institution, is fallible to corruption and human error. It is open to the whims and
weakness of the humans who created it. Media bias is the notion that the press have a
subjective bias on how they report the news and what incidents or affairs they report to
the public. Journalists can show bias by excluding off significant information that can
change how people perceive a story or an event. Journalist may also fail to mention
details about themselves that make readers question their authenticity or show why they
are supporting a side. From the beginning of the American press, bias always existed.
One of the first American newspaper, James Franklins the New England Courant was
aligned with party interest. His brother Benjamin franklin used a pseudonym to criticize
certain politicians. Pseudonyms were mainly used when civilians attacked people of
influence to avoid prison. During the fight for American independence, newspapers like
the American Gazette reported news in favor of the patriots to gain more public support.
As American journalism has progressed, the media have had to find new ways to keep
the public interested. One of their ways is to focus on Sensationalism. That is, report
stories that brings controversy and alarm to the public. In Stephen J. Dubner and
Steven Levitts book Freakonomics, they voice explain the concern the country had for
the growth crime rate. This concern was exacerbated by the mainstream media who
predicted an apocalypse where most of the teenager would be violent criminals and that
walking outside would not be safe. After the crime rate started dropping, some of the
media personalities over warning of bloodbath was in fact an intentional overstatement
(Dubner and Levitt, pg. 50). This example clearly shows that the media sometimes
exaggerate so the public will pay attention to them. After all, the more the public look at
the news, the better paid the journalists are.

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Refutation

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Some people still consider the American Media to be consisted of institutions that
report the truth to the American public. To them, it signifies the goodness of the public
and that pureness should not be messed with. If the media is doubted, then the
knowledge of the American citizens is also being doubted and that should not be so.
However, the press and the people are not the same and they should be separated.
Just because the people are misinformed does not mean the press. For example, after
the 9/11 attack on the twin towers, everyone was looking for someone to blame. Some
pointed the blame at Iraq, and government reports of weapons of mass destructions
came up. The media was one of the tools the government used to convince the public
that war was a necessary step to take to protect the American people. Later, it was
evident that there Iraq was not in possession of any weapon of mass destruction and
that many sightings of these mythical weapons were hearsay. Although the people
thought these reporting to be true, the press were informed enough to know that they
were false and should have informed the people of their suspicion. However, the played
into the sensationalism in order to raise drama in hopes of increasing their commercial
profit.
Confirmation

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Paul Farhi of the Washington post admits that the press sometimes have a
conservative or media bias. However, he says that since most of the bias is 50% on
each side, it all cancels out and the net bias becomes 0%. However, this argument is
not valid because people will only watch the news that agrees with their views and may
not trust other outlets

Figure 1Perception of media by Ideology

As seen in the graph above, a large portion of the public think that the media is biased
is some way. The difference comes in how they view these biases. Liberals think the

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press is biased toward conservatives while conservatives think the press is biased
toward liberals. By trying to cater to a specific market, the American media have created
distrust. The distrust does not cancel out to make the country better. It just creates a
polarized atmosphere that is not good for the country. By pursuing profit, the media has
created a divide within the country. This divide is evident in our current political climate
and presidential election. A politician cannot agree with the opposite side at any time or
he or she is betraying their party. The only ones that benfit from these divide are the
multinational conglomerates like AOL Time Warner, Disney, General Electric, News
Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi, Sony, Bertelsmann, AT&T and Liberty Media (Mass
Media). While the public keep fighting with each other, they rake in the profits in
happiness.
Conclusion
To the American people, the press will always represent truth, honesty, and knowledge.
However, the news industrial complex should be see as what they really are, an
amalgamation of corporations that only report biased news in order to make money.
They have found many ways to do this like not giving complete information, focusing on
sensationalism, showing ads for corrupt organizations. For the good of their country, the
American people should acknowledge this problem so they can correct it.

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Work Cited
Miller, Mark Crispin. "Media Monopolies Are a Serious Problem." Mass Media. Ed.
William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt.
from "What's Wrong with This Picture?" The Nation (7 Jan. 2002). Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
Schultz, Colin. "The Media Exaggerate the Risks of Infectious Diseases." Epidemics.
Ed. David Haugen and Susan Musser. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011.
Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "From AIDS to SARS: The Media and Emergent
Disease." CMBR. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
Farhi, Paul. "How Biased Are the Media, Really?" Washington Post. The Washington
Post, 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

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Media Matters for America. "Conservative Media Bias Is a Serious Problem." Mass
Media. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing
Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Black and White and Re(a)d All Over: The Conservative
Advantage in Syndicated Op-Ed Columns." 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.