Post by grmoran38 on Nov 16, 2011 22:03:40 GMT -5
People in positions of power have a significant amount of influence on the beliefs and opinions of others. Therefore, leaders should be careful to not betray the trust that people put in them. When leaders abuse their influence and give biased opinions to their followers they are betraying that trust. This can be seen in both the 1950’s play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, and in the modern day American media.
In the play, Danforth is a deputy governor that takes over the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Danforth’s duty as a judge is to be impartial to the outcome of the trials; however he is unable to do this because he is biased. This bias is evident when Danforth convicts nearly all of the accused witches brought to him as guilty. It is statistically unlikely that all of the accused were witches, which suggests that bias was present. By convicting so many of the townspeople as witches Danforth was feared by Salem. This caused him to gain more power, giving him a biased reason to convict more people.
Similarly to Danforth, the modern journalist also has a duty to be impartial. The American public puts its trust in the media to accurately report on current events and issues. Unfortunately, many journalists have allowed their political beliefs to influence what they report and how they report it. Both conservative and liberal journalists are at fault. Instead of reporting news in an unbiased manner, too many journalists are putting their biased slant into their stories. They continue to abuse their journalistic influence, and in doing so betray the average man who relies on them.
Most recently the media have written 50 stories on the allegations of sexual harassment against the conservative Herman Cain, whereas during Bill Clinton’s campaign only 7 stories were written about his various sexual scandals (NewsBusters.org). The fact that the media focused far more attention to allegations against the Republican Cain than to the Democrat Clinton points towards a liberal media bias against conservatives. On the other hand, the conservative media can be just as biased as the liberal media. The Pew Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism noted over 23 weeks that all of the Republican candidates received more positive news coverage than Barack Obama. The conservative media seem to have decided (either subconsciously or consciously) that they would portray most of the Republican candidates in a positive manner, while portraying Obama in a negative manner in the hope of getting a Republican elected as President of the United States. Therefore, media bias can be both liberal and conservative. By spinning what they report, both liberal and conservative journalists abuse the relationship that they have with the American public. Instead of receiving straight facts, Americans see stories that have been altered or spun by the media in order to further liberal or conservative ideas. The average American trusts journalists, and therefore believes what is being fed to him/her by both sides of the media. Most Americans vote based on what they see on TV, or read in the newspaper; therefore it is in the public interest for the media to give them accurate news.
Both The Crucible and the current state of the American media suggest that bias is a common human foible that can too easily creep into society and corrupt important areas of the public arena. To eliminate bias, those in power that the public relies upon must first recognize that it exists and redouble their efforts to curb it.
Word Count: 586
newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/11/03/networks-hit-cain-story-50-times-less-four-days-ignored-clinton-scan
www.politicususa.com/en/conservative-media-bias-obama
In the play, Danforth is a deputy governor that takes over the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Danforth’s duty as a judge is to be impartial to the outcome of the trials; however he is unable to do this because he is biased. This bias is evident when Danforth convicts nearly all of the accused witches brought to him as guilty. It is statistically unlikely that all of the accused were witches, which suggests that bias was present. By convicting so many of the townspeople as witches Danforth was feared by Salem. This caused him to gain more power, giving him a biased reason to convict more people.
Similarly to Danforth, the modern journalist also has a duty to be impartial. The American public puts its trust in the media to accurately report on current events and issues. Unfortunately, many journalists have allowed their political beliefs to influence what they report and how they report it. Both conservative and liberal journalists are at fault. Instead of reporting news in an unbiased manner, too many journalists are putting their biased slant into their stories. They continue to abuse their journalistic influence, and in doing so betray the average man who relies on them.
Most recently the media have written 50 stories on the allegations of sexual harassment against the conservative Herman Cain, whereas during Bill Clinton’s campaign only 7 stories were written about his various sexual scandals (NewsBusters.org). The fact that the media focused far more attention to allegations against the Republican Cain than to the Democrat Clinton points towards a liberal media bias against conservatives. On the other hand, the conservative media can be just as biased as the liberal media. The Pew Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism noted over 23 weeks that all of the Republican candidates received more positive news coverage than Barack Obama. The conservative media seem to have decided (either subconsciously or consciously) that they would portray most of the Republican candidates in a positive manner, while portraying Obama in a negative manner in the hope of getting a Republican elected as President of the United States. Therefore, media bias can be both liberal and conservative. By spinning what they report, both liberal and conservative journalists abuse the relationship that they have with the American public. Instead of receiving straight facts, Americans see stories that have been altered or spun by the media in order to further liberal or conservative ideas. The average American trusts journalists, and therefore believes what is being fed to him/her by both sides of the media. Most Americans vote based on what they see on TV, or read in the newspaper; therefore it is in the public interest for the media to give them accurate news.
Both The Crucible and the current state of the American media suggest that bias is a common human foible that can too easily creep into society and corrupt important areas of the public arena. To eliminate bias, those in power that the public relies upon must first recognize that it exists and redouble their efforts to curb it.
Word Count: 586
newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/11/03/networks-hit-cain-story-50-times-less-four-days-ignored-clinton-scan
www.politicususa.com/en/conservative-media-bias-obama