Running Head: Impact of Media Bias on News Reporting
Effect of Public Perception on the Influence of Media Bias in News Reporting
William Dedrick
University of North Florida
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Impact of Media Bias in News Reporting
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Abstract
This paper, along with case studies and surveys, analyzes the impact that media bias has
on news reporting and the major media outlets of both print and broadcasting on political bias.
Information is the most valuable tool in grabbing the attention of the public. Ethical implications
made by researchers will prove how such factors help shape its effects on public perception. It
briefly presents a historical research perspective on the characteristics of news sources being
unfair and bias. Using valid resources from case studies and surveys, the researcher believes that
major media outlets are politically biased and influences the perception of the public vote.
Research will show that most major media outlets lean to the left and have a tremendous power
on shaping individual and spread awareness. This subdivision provides the hypothetical
framework for the impact that media outlets have on the unstoppable success of media bias in
print and broadcast mediums.
In the major mediums of print and broadcast news, the relationship between media bias
and media fairness in news plays a huge role in their success and political control of public
perception. The impact of media bias on news reporting will be discussed and research will
prove the existence of political bias impacting how the public votes and how the majority of
media outlets are liberal and how that impacts presidential elections. Media bias occurs when
media systematically presents a particular point of view. During the 19th century, many
American newspapers openly advocated one or another political party. Big cities often had
competing newspapers supporting various political parties. The separation between “news and
“editorial” provides some extent. News reporting was expected to be neutral, or at least factual.
Editorials openly gave the opinion of the publisher.
Impact of Media Bias in News Reporting
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Literature Review
(Deveney, 2013) defines the credibility of the new source as a global evaluation of the
objectivity of a story. In communication, the credibility or fairness links with acceptability of the
messages. Given the fact that different new sources can receive assistance from private donors, it
is possible that some of these news sources shift toward ideas that are more favorable to the
certain circle of society. The language that applies to the credibility and fairness of the news
source can be measured in terms like "factual," "fair," "un bias”; which assists the public to
manage the source of their news. Researchers argue that an overwhelming percent of journalists
are liberal. (Groseclose, 2012) claims that only seven percent of Washington reporters voted for
George H.W. Bush in 1992, compared with 37 percent of the American public. (Omenugha,
2008) reports that objectivity and balance disappear when unfairness and bias begin. The fairness
or business of print and broadcasting media creates strong and diverse opinions. The American
Society of Newspaper Editors reports that 78 percent of the public believe there is a bias in news
reporting. (ASNE, 1999) Printed and broadcasted information can report untrue data, preventing
leaders from participating in a situation which they are fully aware of. This can create a
contradiction and cause misunderstandings, taking away the credibility of the news source. The
presence of personal opinions exists both in print and broadcasting media. Politicians,
particularly the ones on the right, often accuse media for taking a bias stand. Mitt Romney, the
Republican presidential candidate for the 2012 election, said that “he did not expect a fair fight
in the media.”
Most commentators in print and broadcasting media were liberals,” he said. According to
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Romney, this had a lot to do with the way the election turned out, since media has a huge
potential to impact swing voters (Samuelson, 2012). The President of the United States, Barack
Obama, who most believe is favored by media, remarked in a 2010 interview, “the tradition in
this country of a press is that oftentimes, is opinionated”. President Obama specified that Fox
News became a part of that tradition, which had a clear and undeniable point of view, and in
some cases not everyone agrees with it, and can be dangerous of the long-term growth of a
country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world” (Wenner, 2010). The
researcher observes that the selection of the information which will be presented to the recipients
is one of the most crucial decisions facing journalism. With bias sampling in statistics or survey
research, selection bias takes place when not all units in the target population are equally likely
to be included, either because they are not sought out by news organizations or are not published
when available. As (Groeling and Kernell, 1998) note; in contrast to the selection process where
the bias twists the choices of what events or information to cover, presentation bias changes the
content of those resulting stories. Presentation bias is the focus of the vast majority of media bias
literature. (Groeling, 2013) The bias news reporting can make a significant difference in political
attitudes and voting behavior. (Kuypers and Schweikart, 2013)
Rupert Murdock established the 24-hour Fox News Channel in October of 1996 to
compete with cable news networks; CNN. The news channel became an effective way for
Republicans to communicate with their supporters. The research conducted in June 2007
indicated that 17.3 percent of the U.S. population reported watching Fox News regularly.”
(Kuypers and Schweikart, 2013) The research also examined how Fox News’ entry into cable
markets changed public behavior and voting. Since the Fox News mainly supports the right-sided
politicians, this means that all mainstream television networks such as CNN or ABC could
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possibly have a systematic and significant effect on the available political information in the
market. (Kuypers and Schweikart, 2013) Media bias is a result of the consumers’ preferences.
The consumer demands for bias sources, which is often based on their own ideology. It is simply
a supply and demand process, which could create a strong economic incentive for newspapers to
tailor their slant, in order to suit the political leanings of their geographic market.” (Eveland, Jr.
William, 2003) As President Barack Obama noted, “the golden age of an objective press was a
pretty narrow span of time in our history. It now seems clear that we are entering a new, more
partisan era in American journalism.” Ironically, it appears that the future will more closely
resemble the nineteenth century’s press than the twentieth century’s, with some news
organizations choosing to distinguish themselves in a crowded marketplace by delivering a
reliable ideological product. CBS Head Les Moonves observes that “ultimately journalism has
changed...partisanship is very much a part of journalism now.” (Groeling, 2012)
Media and journalists are expected to stay neutral. The public trusts media and consumes
their production with the hope to receive un-bias information of complex political situations.
Indeed, journalists present themselves as neutral in the public eye, and some of them are, but in
reality, it is fair to say media is anything but neutral. Research has proven that media is not only
biased, through selection of news, framing and analyzing events, but it is also guilty of impacting
neutral audiences and creating untrue news reporting. H1) Researcher believes that news
broadcast stations are politically biased. H2) Researcher believes that the major media outlets
lean to the left. Null Hypothesis: When focusing on the impact of media bias on news reporting,
the researcher believes media does not have a neutral relationship between news reporting and
confidence in the news.
Methodology: Case Studies and Surveys
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This study relies on the use of case studies and surveys in developing research on the
impact of media bias in news reporting. The case studies regarding to media bias can be
overwhelming, for that reason, this report will number the cases as (Case number 1, 2, 3). Case
1: Study of Media Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election, according to the Project for
Excellence in Journalism and Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and
Public Policy, the media favored the Democratic candidate during the presidential election in
2008. The studies have shown that the press coverage of the candidates has a straight connection
with the public opinion and direct effect on the electorate. The study indicates that Fox News
presented a more positive image for Republicans and a negative for Democrats, compared with
other news sources. The statistics show that 47 percent of Fox News reports regarding
Republican candidates are more likely to be neutral and the remaining percentage is more likely
to be positive than negative.
Print media lead all other media outlets when it came to favor Democrats, who usually go
a positive coverage on the first page of the paper. Stories included information that explains how
the political and economic situation will change if a certain candidate were to be elected. In fact,
many journalists were introduced to the stories in print media. Print media provided positive
coverage for the Democrats in the daily paper. According to statistics presented in the research,
59.5 percent of all stories about Democrats were positive and clear; leaving 11.5 percent
containing a negative tone. It is clear that during an election year, Democrats enjoy the high
variability from both print and broadcast media. This was the case while reporting about
presidential candidates. Obama received 70.5 percent of positive coverage on the front page and
nine percent negative. Clinton received 61 percent positive and 13 percent negative. The
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Republican candidates who were more likely to receive negative stories in print than elsewhere,
scored 40 percent negative versus 26 percent positive and 34 percent neutral. The Republican
Party received more positive feedback from cable media. This is where Republicans fared better
than anywhere else. Media separated political parties giving 34 percent of positive reporting to
Democrats and only 25 percent negative. However, the statistics were different from the
Republican Party, which received 29 percent positive and 30 percent negative reports from the
cable media. It is clear that the perception of the liberal bias media is more than assumption and
presented statistics confirms that statement.
Case 2: Zimmerman Trial Media Coverage 2013
Media coverage of criminal trials is not a new experience for American viewers. One of the
controversial events which grasped the attention of the credible news sources was the Murder
trial case of Trayvon Martin versus George Zimmerman. This case, in particular, gained a
significant importance due to its controversy. Media was heavily involved through the entire
process of the trial and provided an ethical interpretation of the framing trends and possible
misleading reporting. Studies of the Zimmerman trial include how media shaped the public
opinion regarding the jurisdiction of the case. Through analyzing the ethical implication of media
coverage, (Scheufele, 1999) studied the effects of framing on media bias, stating “social norms
and values, organizational pressures and constraints, pressures of interest groups, journalistic
routines and ideological or political orientations of journalists play a significant role in how
journalists shape their views. (Scheufele, 1999) These values were highly applicable during the
media coverage of Zimmerman’s case. (Scheufele, 1999) The case of Trayvon Martin grabbed
national attention and his parents launched a Change.org Petition asking for justice for their
son’s death. Media presented Trayvon as a hero, who saved his father’s life at the age of 9
Impact of Media Bias in News Reporting
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pulling him from a burning kitchen. The teenager was innocent and Zimmerman was the
community’s self-appointed neighborhood watch leader who ignored the order given by the
police dispatcher’s instructions not to go after the teenager. (Lizette Alvarez and Cara Buckley,
2013) wrote in the New York Times, “that charge required Mr. Zimmerman to have evinced a
‘depraved mind,’ brimming with ill will, hatred, spite or evil intent, when he shot Mr. Martin.”
The absence of key details in the early stage of the case created an ideal environment for new
stations to present bias reporting and unnecessary propaganda. Martin’s parents became a
significant media frame and the case took a paradoxical turn. Studies of the Zimmerman trial
recognized the news reporting bias during the cases’ evaluation, which led to major ethical
violations by mainstream media outlets. Research presented by (Scheufele, 1999) of the effects
of framing and how the fear of media is portrayed and the norms and values of journalistic
coverage claims that American media still needs help to succeed.
Case 3: Survey by UCLA Political Scientist
The first successful attempt at quantifying bias in a range of media outlets is a UCLA
study led by UCLA political scientist Tim Groseclose and University of Missouri economist and
public policy scholar Jeffrey Milyo. Research was based on a standard measure for liberal causes
and based on lawmaker’s support for liberal causes. Studies done by the Americans for
Democratic Action (ADA) would track the percentage of times each lawmaker votes on the
liberal side of an issue. After tallying these votes, the ADA would assign a numerical score to
each lawmaker, where “100” is the most liberal and “0” is the most conservative. Groseclose and
Milyo would then direct 21 research assistants; majority being college students, to search for
U.S. media coverage during the past 10 years. These numbers would be tallied and each media
outlet that referred to think tanks and policy groups; NAACP or Heritage Foundation, would be
Impact of Media Bias in News Reporting
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tallied as well. After tallying these numbers, the same exercise would be done with speeches
made by U.S. lawmakers. Research by Groseclose and Milyo would assign their method to a
similar ADA score. Research shows that major media outlets are quite moderate compared to
members of Congress and that there is a quantifiable and significant bias in that nearly all of
them lean to the left. The UCLA-based study proves the researcher’s hypothesis of major media
outlets leaning to the left. According to UCLA political scientist Tim Groseclose and the study’s
lead author, “overall, the major media outlets are quite moderate compared to members of
Congress”. Groseclose states that “there is a quantifiable and significant bias in nearly all of the
20 major media outlets studied”. Research shows that the 20 media outlets studied, 18 scored left
of center. Print media included the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times; both ranked
second and third for most liberal. Broadcast station CBS and their CBS “Evening News” ranked
second behind the news pages of the Wall Street Journal. The survey research study proved that
majority of media outlets lean to the left. The only media outlets that scored right of a U.S. voter
were Fox News “Special Report with Brit Hume” and print media’s “the Washington Times”.
Table IV: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Vol. CXX, Issue 4 (November 2005)
Rankings Based on Distance from Center
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
News Outlet
Newshour with Jim Lehrer
CNN NewsNight with Aaron Brown
ABC Good Morning America
Drudge Report
Fox News' Special Report with Brit
Hume
ABC World News Tonight
ADA
Score
55.8
56.0
56.1
60.4
39.7
61.0
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8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
NBC Nightly News
USA Today
NBC Today Show
Washington Times
Time Magazine
U.S. News and World Report
NPR Morning Edition
Newsweek
CBS Early Show
Washington Post
LA Times
CBS Evening News
New York Times
Wall Street Journal
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61.6
63.4
64.0
35.4
65.4
65.8
66.3
66.3
66.6
66.6
70.0
73.7
73.7
85.1
Note: The table gives our method's rankings of the most
to least centrist news outlet. The rankings are based
on the distance of the outlet's estimated ADA score
(from Table 3) to 50.06, our estimate of the average
U.S. voter's ADA score.
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