Should News Stations be Neutral?
mroach from Malmö, Sweden, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Back in the 1940’s there were only a handful of news stations that existed. While only ABC, NBC, and CBS existed back then, and still do, now there are virtually hundreds of news stations. While most give the impression of giving you the cold hard facts of the news, there are several that lightly or even blatantly push their agenda. However, do people like to hear someone like them discussing the topic, or would it be better to hear the facts? In my opinion, news stations should be neutral no matter what.
“48% of biased news was from cable news/news stations.”
Now the idea of news reporting is to share the news with the mass public to inform them. When you’re showing bias with political views when reporting news, it starts to become less about provable facts and more about one’s opinion. According to a study done by the Katz Media group, 48% of biased news was from cable news/news stations. While you can have an opinion on the news (e.g., columns, editorials), it should still be separate from news reporting. However, what are the effects of biased news stations?
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Wittylama, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“It can lead us to miscalculate certain risks, shape our views on foreign countries, and possibly influence the health of entire economies.”
While the various news stations are supposed to give the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a story, for one reason or another, most reporters add their political opinion. “It can lead us to miscalculate certain risks, shape our views on foreign countries, and possibly influence the health of entire economies,” according to BBC reporter Zaria Gorvett. So, news reporters have a huge effect on how people see a certain topic. For example, if people are told that grapes are bad, (even though they aren’t) then people would avoid grapes without researching if they are or not.
Some people, however, might like biased news. In terms of the viewer, they get to hear people of their party talk about a set topic. The reporters get little to no opposition from their statements and get paid off if the bias comes because of money. However, this does not allow for the viewer to see both sides of the argument, and their side might not even be right. Depending on the party, they can impose a certain view on a set opinion.
From the beginning, news stations were created to share and inform the general public about stories that they weren’t able to see. However, almost half of the news stations tend to be biased in their coverage, whether it be for political views or money. This distortion of information can also misinform the normal viewer. I humbly think that, while having opinions on the news is great, all news stations should be neutral, no matter what their party or payout may be.