These days, it
seems as though the Conservative and Liberal Media really have it out for each
other. Each side constantly blames the other for expressing too much bias towards
their side. It seems like every time I turn on the news or read a blog,
everyone is pointing fingers as to why something did,
or didn't happen. But, what about the actual content of the
news? It’s true that it’s important for the government to take blame for their
actions. However, at a certain point, Americans don’t care whose fault it is,
they just want the problem dealt with; let’s take for example the sequester.
The media seems to be having a field day with the sequester drama. The
sequester, like other political news is more attractive in the media if it is portrayed
as a crisis. People get bored when it comes to political news. Thus, the media
has to dramatize these storylines in order to get more ratings. If they reported
that both parties were working together, the news would get fewer ratings. In
reality, the American public thrives on conflict and finds it more interesting
than agreement. In the end, it is no surprise that media coverage has been very
dramatic and biased.
The media coverage for the sequester has varied depending on which political
party’s news outlet you follow. Conservative blame the “liberal media” for being too
“dramatic” about the sequester. They blame liberals for
instilling fear of tax cuts to the public. Also, they argue that liberal
journalists are just conveying talking points to the President’s agenda. In
other words, Fox News is basically calling the liberal media “puppets of the
presidents.” The theory that the President can influence public opinion through
the media is correct. The more favorable news coverage the President gets, the
higher his approval rating goes. Conservatives fear that if liberal journalist
constantly blame Republican’s for not doing anything about the sequester, then
the Republican approval ratings will drop.
On the other side of the
argument, liberals blame conservative media for putting too much blame on the
President. Liberal journalists blame Republican lawmakers for not being open to compromise. Democrats argue that they have been willing to comprise for a
long period of time, but they are not getting the same response from the
Republican Party. Instead, conservatives have taken a “my way or the high way”
approach. When they do not get their way, they openly blame the President and other democrats for not comprising. I think that it is
easy for journalist to blame the President because he is an easy target. Unlike
the 535 Members of Congress, the media can easily point blame on the president.
The president’s actions are also very easy to track because he is just one
person. Criticizing and critiquing his actions is cheap, easy, and makes for
good entertainment. The press is more likely to echo extreme opinions from
commentators or partisan news media because of the entertainment factor; the audience
thrives for a type of infotainment broadcasting.
So who is right? Are the liberals being to
dramatic about the tax cuts, or the Conservative putting too much blame on the
President? If I took a side and blamed liberals or conservative, then I would
be just as guilty as the media. I want to take a non-partisan approach in this
piece and say that both conservative and liberals are to blame. There is
bias on both sides, which in turn carries over to the American people. Democrats
blame Republican lawmakers for only caring about wealthy business owners.
Republicans blame Democrats for wanting to give money to lazy people who do not
want to work. These arguments will eventually cause a separation between the
American people. The extreme view of partisan media strengthens the viewer’s
political identity and limits their worldviews. This in turns creates a heightened
distrust of mainstream media on the part of the viewers.
I think it’s time for the media as a whole to
stop assigning blame and start focusing on the real issues at hand. I
have come to believe that media bias will be a never ending debate. It is more
entertaining for one side to point out flaws and blame others, instead of
talking about the real issue at hand. People already have distrust in
government and find politics boring. In order to get ratings, news channels
have to make the news worth watching!
