Discarded: Is the media biased?

issue discarded

Jenna's idea works, I think. Especially since as "the newspaper of record," it's referenced so often. And it would certainly generate debate. The question could possibly be posed regarding CNN (which would go under Television) as well..

Maybe by choosing a specific entity, like the New York Times.  So, for example:

Question:  Is the New York Times biased?

Options:  Yes, No, No position or position not yet known

The stands will probably include conservatives (especially conservative media fixtures) who say yes, liberals who say no, and plenty of discussion fodder for what constitutes bias, exactly.

I chose the New York Times as a well-known player that is likely to have garnered stands while it's also likely that reasonable people can disagree about whether it is or isn't biased.  For example, "Is Fox News biased?" is a no-brainer, they go ahead and say as much themselves -- they just argue that they're counteracting the bias of the REST of the media (like the NYT).

Too general. I do like viznertia's  phrase "systemically biased," which alludes to an overall, as opposed to individual, bias. But even then, it still seems too broad. I'm not sure how it could be narrowed down.

Re: vizinertia, I could possibly see some value in a question like, "Is the media unfairly biased?" I'd want to discuss that some more though.

This is too general. Every individual and group that acts on information necessarily possesses some kind of bias. It's called subjectivity. Any newsman worth his salt will tell you the same thing - the goal is to be fair, not "objective" - an unattainable philosophical ideal.

This could produce discussion about left and right biases or biases related to advertising, vizinertia has a good point.

This seems to assume that there is a monolithic "media" out there. Everyone, media or not, is biased. There are a lot of liberal biased papers and TV and radio stations, and a lot of conservative ones, and everything in between and beyond. There's nothing wrong with that. I think what you're trying to get at is if there's an unfair bias, or a systematic bias, that is somehow affecting how the nation perceives events. And even here, of course there is! I just don't see what the question gets you.

Most will assume left or right though.

i know that we have an approved issue positing whether the media is politically biased, but i do not like that issue so i proposed this one.  my question is whether the media is influenced by anyone - political or not.