Media Bias: The Never-Ending Cycle!

What is Media Bias?• Media Bias is where the News Media distorts the reporting

and objectivity of news in any way or form

• Examples:• NBC editing the 911 tapes to portray George Zimmerman as a

race-baiter• Pushing Barack Obama’s narrative that the Benghazi consulate

attack was caused by an amateur video• It was reported that terrorists were at fault, not the video• No reporting on the current imprisonment of the video’s director

• Ignoring the consistently bad unemployment numbers (around 7%) since Obama’s two terms as President

Accuracy in Media

Founded in 1969 by Reed Irvine, AIM is America’s original news media watchdog to promote accuracy, fairness and balance in news reporting.• AIM exposes politically motivated media bias,

teaches consumers to think critically about news sources and holds the mainstream press accountable for its misreporting.

• It is a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage.

• Media bias began to be exposed soon after AIM’s founding in 1969

National News Council• Formed in 1973 as a non-profit watchdog

organization• Intended to combat bias in the news media• Run by liberal journalists like Walter

Cronkite, who refused to cooperate• Officially dissolved in 1983• However, it was a major failure as these

liberal journalists could never agree on how to measure bias

• Today’s current liberal media bias culture has flourished in part to the National News Council’s failure

Newspapers

• Newspapers were the only news source, next to broadcast TV, for Americans during the 1970s-1980s

• The Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune were the largest newspapers• They were and still are EXTREMELY biased against conservatives

• With the Internet, newspapers slowly became out-of-touch

Broadcast TV’s Demise• Broadcast TV stations such as

ABC, CBS and NBC dominated the news

• Anchors like Dan Rather were well-respected in American households

• But, their liberal media bias was apparent when covering events such as Vietnam, Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals

• With the launch of CNN and the emergence of a 24-hour news cycle, the broadcast TV industry failed to adapt

Rise of Cable TV aka Fox News• Fox News, started by Roger

Ailes, has surged to the no.1 news rating • CNN and broadcast TV

were left in the dust with lower ratings

• Liberals like Jon Stewart are upset over Fox News’ cable TV dominance that continues to bury the liberal competition

Study Exposes Media Bias

• Survey conducted in 1980 of 238 journalists exposed journalism’s liberal leanings• Reporters were from ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, now-defunct Newsweek,

New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal• Found that:• Reporters were 93% white, 50% were non-religious • 54% described themselves as liberals, only 17% conservative• Supported Democrat presidential candidates from 81-94%, spanning

from Lyndon B. Johnson to Jimmy Carter

Media on Trayvon Martin• Huffington

Post’s headline after the trial (see left)

• Media quoted Obama that “if [he] had a son, he’d look like Trayvon”

• MSNBC covered crowds as if they were waiting for a riot

AIM combating Media Bias• We reported that Charles

Barkley blasted the News Media for their coverage• “I just feel bad because I don’t

like when race gets out in the media because I don’t think the media has a pure heart as I call it.”

• Obama’s only similarity with Trayvon Martin was how both had smoked pot at a young age, which went unreported by the News Media

Other Media Bias Examples• 2008 Presidential Election• 2012 Presidential Election• Benghazi consulate attacks

that left 4 Americans dead, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya

• Reverse racial profiling in the Boston Bombers’ and the D.C. sniper case

• And there’s a lot more where that came from…

The Role of Social Media in Exposing Media Bias

Social Media has changed the News Media and Media Bias

It created a 24-hour news cycle, which liberal newspapers cannot adequately cover

Social Media has further exposed the liberal Media Bias in the News Media

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