Shandi Turner (Siegel)

English 112-401

March 23, 2019

Media Influence and Bias

How does media influence us and how is it Bias? These are two questions that I don’t feel people
question enough. It is an ongoing struggle daily to see the media reports and stop and think why is the
news reported the way it? Hopefully, in the future we can see the issues with this and make some
changes and make the media worthy of watching again.

Social media plays a major role in how influential the media and others can be in everyday life.
Social networks can amplify the effect of the media bias. (Siegel)As we scroll through Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, we can see how influential people are just by seeing how someone making fun of others can
lead those whom are being picked on do the unthinkable which can include taking to many pills, cutting
themselves and even suicide just to end the hatred. Why do we as people sit and just watch this happen
and do nothing to help or stop it? And when the reports are made public then there is bias in the
situation because it is always someone else’s fault.

In our world, it is sad to say, but racism is becoming a major issue. This has always been a
problem, but it is becoming more and more of an issue with police and the media. Its not just race that
is a problem it is also gender and religion and sexual orientation. In our world today, it is more common
to see the LGBT community coming out and making a stand. Is this ok? Everyone should be able to be
who they are and like/love who they want. For some this is not an issue if they don’t push it on them,
but in the media and social media there is always going to be discrimination on this topic as most
believe (due to their religion) that it is wrong to want to be with the same sex or even want to change
your gender identity. Is it wrong to want to change who you are? It may be but at the same time why
does what someone else want to do make others hate them? Are they hurting you by wanting to be
what they feel they are?

Police brutality……this is a major problem in the US today. Black Lives Matter. This movement
has upset a lot of people simply because not just Black Lives Matter, but ALL LIVES MATTER. Yes in the
news media today you see a lot of instantances where the police are in pursuit of a gang member, or
drug dealer and the pursuit turns into someone getting shot, and immediately the media is all over it
and you see them reporting and getting stories from the community and the community want to blame
the police, when sometimes in fact the suspect had a gun but the media wants to get viewers so they
twist the story to get people to respond. This makes things worse not better. What the media displays is
simply for publicity and not really what is reality. Media outlets want ratings and viewers and they
sometimes don’t care how they get those ratings which can lead to bias reports. These reports outrage
the public and then it can get out of hand.

How can we prevent this type of action? Honestly the only answer is to basically report the real
news and not be bias no matter what the outcome may or may not be. The current controversy
surrounding racial profiling in America has focused renewed attention on the larger issue of racial bias by
the police. (Tuch and Wietzer) This is a statement that everyone knows to be true in the world today.
This is the worse media bias with the media outlets and social media. With this example we see just how
the media plays a role is reporting bias reports in the media and how it affects everyone. This is not just
a limited issue this issue is an everyday issue.

In conclusion, does the media influence the world and make them bias? As a society are we to
believe what we see in the media? Yes, they do because no one will ever agree 100% with each other
but why does it have to be drawn out into more than what it is? The media will always be an outlet for
reporting bias stories and making us as a society determine what is to be real and what is bias and false.
It doesn’t have to be this way but, in the world we live in unfortunately this is how it is. In order to make
change, we must be willing to change ourselves and how we think and report on subjects. If changes
were made the world would be a better, happier place to be but can it be done? Probably not in our
lifetime if ever.
 Works Cited

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Bias." Journalism and Communication Monographs, vol. 15, no. 4, 2013, pp. 219-270. ProQuest,

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Vraga, Emily K., Melissa Tully, and Hernando Rojas. "Media Literacy Training Reduces Perception of

Bias." Newspaper Research Journal, vol. 30, no. 4, 2009, pp. 68-81. ProQuest,

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Albarqouni, Loai N., José López-López A., and Julian P. T. Higgins. "Indirect Evidence of Reporting Biases

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Weitzer, Ronald, and Steven A. Tuch. "Racially Biased Policing: Determinants of Citizen

Perceptions*." Social Forces, vol. 83, no. 3, 2005, pp. 1009-1030. ProQuest,
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Jones, Eric K. ""all Lies Matter!": Revealing Misleading Information in Media Stories about Police

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SIEGEL, DAVID A. "Social Networks and the Mass Media." The American Political Science Review, vol.

107, no. 4, 2013, pp. 786-805. ProQuest,

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