by Mark Dawson

Created on: July 23, 2008

As someone who has studied journalism in college, I can say that political bias is only the perception of the viewer. If the media reports an event and the viewer doesn't think that event is worthy, then it would appear to that viewer that a particular news outlet is biased.

But the strange thing about journalism that most viewer don't understand or can't distinguish between is the line of journalism that is being presented to them. So, having a degree in mass communication, I learned to understand how regular people outside of the media process information and eventually perceive a bias, and so I present the process below to hopefully shed some light.

Basically it works like this:

1. Journalism is divided into two camps: fact and opinion.
2. A type of journalism, known as "hard" news is presented. Hard news only presents facts.
3. Sometimes, the viewer is offended by the facts, or refuse to accept it because it contradicts their religious or cultural values or their long-held view of the world.
4. Because these facts contradicts a belief the viewer has, the viewer rejects it.
5. Another type of journalism, known as "editorial" is then available. Editorials are completely opinion.
6. The viewer seeks out the opinion. If the opinion agrees with their beliefs than that viewer accepts the opinion as a fact.

The viewer starts to perceive a bias at stage 4.

Therefore, any group can feel as if there is a bias if the facts they reject are constantly being presented to them.

Here are a few examples, using the following groups: Right-wing conservatives and African-Americans.

Example 1:
One belief that right-wing conservatives advocate is that homosexuals should not marry.
The news reports that in a recent survey of random people, 70% say they accept homosexuals getting married. (fact presented)
Surveys are standard factual gathering tools.
The conservative thinks this fact is unacceptable.
The news reports, some months later, that the percentage has increased to 80%.
The conservative rejects the surveys altogether and begins to think that the only reason the news presented the survey was to push a homosexual, or more liberal, agenda.
The conservative turns to "editorial" journalism, talk radio, for example.
The conservative listens mostly to opinion. Because the opinion closely aligns with his/her values, the opinion is accepted as fact, and it is then that the conservative accepts it as "news."

Example 2
Frequently, the news reports that an African American was murdered by the hands of another African American. (A fact presented)
African American viewers do not agree with the frequency of facts.
These viewers soon reject the frequency.
These viewers then begin to believe that the only reason the news is frequently presenting
these facts is because they have an agenda to paint most African Americans as criminals.
These viewers then turn their attention to African-American dominated media outlets to get the news "from their perspective." (i.e. their opinions)
The opinion is once again taken as "news."

The examples above could be applied to women, senior citizens, special needs people, etc. You get the idea.

So no, there is no political bias. Just the viewer's perception and rejection of the facts presented.

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