Media Bias Effect on Politics

In a representative government, the outcomes of policies are influenced by voter beliefs as well as political choices. The media has a huge impact on persons' views and opinions. Reporters must collect, frame, and summarize facts that voters use to make voting judgments. Unfortunately, the media has become extremely skewed in favor of some candidates. Media bias is a significant issue in many countries since it impairs people's capacity to make educated judgments. As a result, this study contributes to a better understanding of the role of the media in politics. The first purpose of the study is to identify the role of the media in shaping people’s opinions about politicians and various aspects of politics. The second objective is to establish the effects of media bias on individual’s opinions.

Media refers to communication channels through which education, news, and even data are disseminated (Biagi 8). They include elements such as the internet, radio, televisions, billboards, and newspapers. Every individual is entitled to a political side which he or believes outlines issues in a more convincing manner. To this effect, the media should play a nonpartisan role in politics by impartially reporting events and news. The reporters should only give non-judgmental information and allow people to make independent decisions.

Many people rely solely on the media for credible information to determine the party or leaders to support. The media should report matters as true as they are so that people can make informed choices out of them (Gal-Or et al. 93). However, media bias is a growing trend, which has relatively affected the manner in which individuals make political choices.

The various forms of media bias include selection and omission where media covers news of liberal opinions while sidelining conservative viewpoints. Placement and story selection where media covers stories pertaining to a given political party while assuming the opposing side completely (Gal-Or et al. 95). Bias by spin, which is depicted when reporters employ a subjective tone when reporting about a given event. In this context, a reporter could be viewed as summarizing a political story, which makes one side look better than the other hand. Media bias in the political arena has increased over time.

This research will employ the use of questionnaires, observations, and focus groups on establishing the forms as well as the far-reaching effects of media bias. Through observations, researchers will monitor closely on the political events and the related media coverage. On the other hand, interviews and questionnaires will help to collect information from individuals directly or indirectly affected by the media.

In conclusion, media has failed to play a neutral role when it comes to covering political issues. Most of the media houses are biased, hence lean to one political side, which they portray to be better than the opponent party. This research will help to determine the problem related to media bias and how it could influence the political landscape.





Works Cited

Biagi, Shirley. Media impact: An introduction to mass media. Cengage Learning, 2012. 8-15

Gal-Or, Esther, Tansev Geylani, and Tuba Pinar Yildirim. "The impact of advertising on media bias." Journal of Marketing Research 49.1 (2012): 92-99.