The textbook I use for critical thinking (I didn't pick it) thinks that the most significant way in which the media is biased is not its partisan bias, which, of course differs from outlet to outlet, but rather its nationalistic bias. Our press is biased in favor of America and its allies, and not fair to opponents of America, like Cuba, North Korea, and Iran. In other words, mainstream news outlets in America, liberal or conservative, suffer from a patriotic bias.
What do you think?
This kind of reminds me of the Outsider Test for Faith applied to whether America is a good nation or not. According to this line of reasoning, whether you think America, or Saudi Arabia, or Germany, or North Korea is a great nation depends on accident of birth. Therefore, in dealing with this question you must abandon any prior convictions and accept only those beliefs in this area supported by hard, scientific evidence.
4 comments:
Sounds like your textbook is biased.
I think they ought to make a case for what is a good government and society and apply that standard equally with all countries.
When dealing with countries other than the US, most of our media ignore them altogether unless the news is bad. So we end up with a skewed idea of what is going on outside of our borders. On a local level, we hear all sorts of good or just plain neutral news, such as weddings, concerts, fairs, community events, etc. On a national level, the broadcast media often throw in a "feel good" story at the end of a show to balance all the more controversial items.
But when it comes to outside of the US, pretty much all we hear about is natural disasters and war. No wonder so many Americans fear the rest of the world.
That's the real bias.
For the most part, the edia is sensationalism-biased, with any other biases being secondary.
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