Is TV news Biased?
By law, television news must treat controversial subjects with due accuracy and impartiality. According to recent surveys, the majority of the population regard the television as their most trusted source of information, which makes it even more important that television remains impartial. There is ongoing controversy about the nature of television broadcasting and whether it is unbiased or falls victim to propaganda. In this essay I hope to discover which side has the stronger argument.Propaganda is the conscious manipulation of information in order to gain political advantage. Chomsky and Herman believe that the American news media function as "propaganda agencies" of what they call the 'national security state' (NSS). They say that ownership, advertising, dependence on official sources, 'flak' (propaganda campaigns, intimidation and use of the law) and 'anti-communism' serve to twist the facts in order to be conveyed in the interests of those in power. Historically, propaganda has been most obvious during times of war or national crisis when the government feels the need to control the media in order to get national unity. This normally results in alternative views not being shown on television as often if at all. T
Glasgow Media Group says that 'From the accents of the newscasters to the vocabulary of camera angles; from who gets on and what questions they are asked, via selection of stories to presentation of bulletins, the news is a highly mediated product' (1976) . Although there have been people interviewed on TV supporting the Queen's actions, including Tony Blair, the focus has mainly been on the fact that 1. Maybe objective accounts of the world are impossible and therefore the notion of bias is equally useless. Therefore, although television news is biased to a certain extent, I believe that it strives to be impartial and bias is only at a sub-conscious level. In conclusion, TV news has not proven itself to be impartial on all occasions. While the Glasgow Media Group claims that all news is constructed and by implication cannot be value free, Hetherington suggests that news is neutral and detached. Hetherington, on the other hand, say that 'the main television news channels have done their best to present a fair, balanced and accurate account; there were occasional mistakes, misjudgements and inadequacies; but that in the face of real difficulties, they offered their audiences a generally reliable and dispassionate news service' (1985) . 5 million pounds were spent on the trial that could have been saved if the Queen had spoken up earlier and the media are calling for the royal family and the Spencer family to pay for it, as it was the Spencer family that really pushed for the trial. Many Republican points of view are not well represented on television news. made into headlines? Does the story sequence produce certain meanings? What language is used to describe the participants and their actions, for example 'terrorists' or 'freedom fighters'? And finally, what point of view is produced by the camera shots? It could be argued that the answers to these questions would never satisfy a critic that the TV news is impartial. Around 60% of the population claim that their only source of political information is the television. This theory could be applied to any situation as everybody has their own personal biases and if they are in a position of power within the media then that is obviously going to influence headlines. Those in power have privileged access when it comes to setting the agenda for reporting news stories.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
