9781422272688

COVID-19 DRONES AND SURVEILLANCE ENTERTAINMENT AND VIDEO GAMES LEGALIZING MARIJUANA MEDIA BIAS REPARATIONS FOR SLAVERY

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM EDUCATION

THE ENVIRONMENT GENDER EQUALITY

GUN CONTROL HEALTH CARE IMMIGRATION JOBS AND ECONOMY MENTAL HEALTH POVERTY AND WELFARE PRIVACY AND SOCIAL MEDIA RACE RELATIONS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

ASHLEY NICOLE

PH I L ADELPH I A | MI AMI

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contents

Chapter 1: Overview and the History of Media Bias ...................... 7 Chapter 2: Does Media Bias Contribute to Violence in America? . ............................................. 27 Chapter 3: Is Agenda Bias the Biggest Contributor to Media Bias? ...................................... 45 Chapter 4: Are Media Watchdog Groups Biased? . ..................... 63 Chapter 5: Can Media Bias Be Corrected? ................................. 83 Series Glossary of Key Terms ................................................... 100 Organizations to Contact . ....................................................... 101 Further Reading . ..................................................................... 102 Internet Resources . ................................................................. 103 Chapter Notes . ........................................................................ 104 Index ....................................................................................... 108 Author’s Biography and Credits .............................................. 112 Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field. K E Y I C O N S T O L O O K F O R :

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

bias— prejudice in favor of or against a specific person, group, entity, or idea. papyrus— material made of plants from ancient Egypt, used for writing and painting. partisanship— prejudice or bias for a particular cause. propaganda— information used to promote an idea or point of view, often with a bias. 6

CHAPTER

OVERVIEW AND THE HISTORY OF MEDIA BIAS

1

Today, “mass media” refers to any media technology via which organizations or individuals can communicate to large groups of people. Mass media can occur in the form of broadcast media, which encompasses film, radio, television, and music. It can also include digital media, which include e-mail,

social media, entertainment websites, and mobile apps. Mass media serves several purposes today. One purpose is advocacy, which includes marketing and advertising purposes. Media also entertains the public via video games, television shows, and even news-type broadcasts. Media can also be used to convey political ideals or even to disseminate propaganda to sway public opinion and influence political outcomes. The idea of bias in mass media has become an important part of modern conversations about the way society connects with media today. In order to understand media bias, it is important to first understand the history of media and how it has evolved over time.

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A HISTORY OF MASS MEDIA IN THE WORLD The advent of mass media actually begins with the invention of paper in China in about 100 BCE by a man known as Cai Lun. Scholars do not know the exact year in which paper was created, but its invention was certainly an improvement over earlier products like dried clay tablets or plant-based papyrus , which had been used by the Egyptians. Eventually, a need for multiple people to possess the same text emerged. Chinese monks developed a method called “block printing,” which enabled them to produce documents more quickly and accurately than handwritten

German printing pioneer Johannes Gutenberg and his assistants check a printed page. The development ofthe printing press in Europe during the fifteenth century led to widespread distribution of published materials such as books, newspapers, and pamphlets.

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Contemporary Issues: Media Bias

copying. The monks would cover blocks of text in ink and then use them as stamps against sheets of paper. Japanese and Korean cultures also adopted this method of producing documents so more people could access them. This technique was slow, but it served its purpose for hundreds of years. Each copy of a document or book had to be handwritten or block printed. The average person who wanted to create copies would painstakingly copy documents by hand, which would take hours. Even after the invention of paper, it would be 1,500 years before Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press that used moveable type. Gutenberg took the idea of using the block printing method but turned each letter and punctuation mark into its own block. The press would mechanize the process of putting ink to paper. Finally, publishers could mass produce books, newspapers, and pamphlets. Newspapers became more common during the seventeenth century, but few people could actually read. By the early eighteenth century, the Times of London developed a large readership. Thanks to the printing press, large numbers of newspapers could be published for distribution quickly, and big ideas could spread throughout the population with speed the world had not seen before. It became clear quickly that mass media would play a crucial role in politics, government, and even entertainment. The next major development along the way involved the invention of the electrical telegraph in the 1830s

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Overview and the History of Media Bias

Scan here to see how the Gutenberg press works.

and 1840s. Messages could be sent over telegraph wires using Morse code, a combination of dots and dashes. The spread of telegraph wires allowed messages to travel over long distances much more quickly. Until that time, news reporters who were working far from their offices relied on the mail service to send stories back to their editors. With the telegraph, a reporter could send a news story “over the wire” to the newspaper office, where it could be set into type and printed in the next day’s edition. The invention of the telephone during the 1870s allowed even faster communication, via voice. Technology now allowed people to communicate instantaneously over large distances—even across the Atlantic Ocean, thanks to undersea cables. The radio, which first appeared in the 1920s, also played a crucial role in the spread of news and information. One of the first notable broadcasts was on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, which broadcast national and local election results in November of 1920. During the 1920s, as radios

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Contemporary Issues: Media Bias

became more popular, many stations created news programs. The National Broadcast Company (NBC) and Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) both established news programs that were syndicated nationally, along with dramas and music concerts. Soon, people in their own homes could listen to baseball games as they unfolded, news stories occurring halfway around the world, and interviews with, or profiles about, politicians and celebrities. By the late 1940s, people around the world were beginning to acquire televisions in their homes. In addition Telegraph operators in the wire room of the New York Times receive and record messages from correspondents all over the United States and abroad, 1942. The invention of the telegraph in the nineteenth century enabled information to be spread more quickly over long distances.

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Overview and the History of Media Bias

to news programs, families could settle in to watch dramas and comedies after dinner. Families had a new way to spend time together, and television programs became a significant topic of conversation. Television ingrained itself in culture. Of course, the advent of the Internet was another major steppingstone in the history of mass media. Although it was created in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most Americans did not begin going online until the early 1990s, with the development of web browsers and providers like America Online. The creation of search engines, particularly Google in 1998, allowed web users to find information quickly. Finally, information was free and readily available. Since the 1990s, the newspaper industry has been a steep decline, with many smaller newspapers closing or merging with others just to stay in business. Ratings for radio and television news programs have also declined, due to the availability of online information as well as an increase in television channels and content. But the freedom of the Internet also came with some challenges. In the past, news organizations had vetted stories; now, anyone could produce content and post it online. Even ideas that most people agreed were false—such as the conspiracy theory that the Apollo moon landings had been faked—gained new life on the fringes of the Internet. News reports that purported to be fair and accurate, but omitted or mischaracterized important information, also became more common in the twenty-first century. By the 2016 presidential election, the issue of biased news

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Contemporary Issues: Media Bias

sources influencing voters led candidates to complain about “fake news.” THE PRESS IN THE UNITED STATES In 1704, Boston gained its first official newspaper, though smaller papers had been gaining traction for some time. It was known as the Boston News-Letter , and the publication was subsidized by the English government. The colonial

Teenaged newsboys prepare to deliver the morning papers at 2 AM in New York City, 1908.

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Overview and the History of Media Bias

governor had the power to approve all editions of the paper before they were distributed. Newspapers were used to spread information about events occurring throughout the states. When the British implemented the Stamp Act of 1765, newspapers spread information to colonists, who would go on to revolt. Patriotism was rampant in newspapers published weekly in the time leading up to the American Revolution. The Virginia Gazette was especially known for denouncing the king and his governors. In this case, newspapers and pamphlets helped fuel the tensions between colonists and those loyal to England. The use of newspapers to disseminate ideas extended beyond the Revolutionary War. Division arose during the Constitutional Convention with the publication of the Federalist Papers throughout the 1780s as well as its counter, the Anti-Federalist Papers. This established the party press era, in which editorials were steeped in partisanship . Media bias is certainly not a new concept. The press became such an important part of early America that the First Amendment to the US Constitution called for freedom of the press. The First Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, to preserve the liberties of the press. This right was so important because the British government had previously worked hard to prevent newspapers from publishing any unfavorable information about the government. The Founding Fathers wanted to

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Contemporary Issues: Media Bias