Newspaper Political Bias

[Cast No Shadow]

A thread I started ages ago now got me thinking, after a reply by sisterofmercy, and it made me think that it would be an interesting debate to have.

Do you think newspapers are biased, and if so, is it a bad thing?

Personally, I think it's fairly obvious that they are. For me though, it's not a problem as I think EVERY national newspaper has a bias, and if you have your own independent mind you can be aware of it and not let it influence you, even better, critique it.

I personally (I keep using that word, because it's entirely subjective depending on the person) despise the UK Labour party, and I won't get into why now, because that's not what this thread is about. It means however, that I read the Daily Mail very regularly, which does not support Labour.

However, that's just for trivial things, when it comes to educational issues I tend to read the Guardian, which despite being pro-Labour is the most up to date (and informative) in my opinion.

I suppose you could also reply to this letting me know whether your political views influence what you read, over the content. It does for me.

Sorry if this is a little garbled, I wrote it as I was thinking and I had lots of ideas in my head.

 

[Goby]

I really wanted to know why you despise the Labour Party. I'm a Liberal Democrat. At least I am on Facebook. 😉

Oh, what's a newspaper? I haven't read one in years. The newspapers where I live totally suck. I grew up in Los Angeles, and I miss the Los Angeles Times terribly.

 

[sisterofmercy]

Most papers are biased one way or another unfortunately, mainly because they are written by people who obviously have opinions. Although obviously they're supposed to be objective, sometimes that isn't the case. I think it's more apparent in some papers than others though (e.g. The Daily Mail compared to The Independent which isn't affiliated with a political party).

I think as long as one is aware of the bias when they're reading it then they can make up their own mind, but I find it sad that many of the UK's newspapers twist the news for their own purposes rather than just report it like they're supposed to. I think some papers are more concerned with shifting copies rather than recording the news as it is.

In terms of politics, people will generally read what they want to read (i.e. whatever paper is sympathetic to their viewpoint). I admit that even I do this as I read The Guardian which is a liberal/left leaning paper. I don't think it should be like this, but I don't see it changing.

 

[brinkster130]

Yes they are. And, any person/paper that tries to tell you otherwise is being dishonest.

It's unfortunate that most news sources are biases, but as long as you are able to see that bias and think for yourself, I don't think those new sources can do much harm. I do however, believe it's bad when they market themselves as being unbiased. That hypocrisy drives me insane.

I personally like to read numerous different news sources to get my information; that way I get to see the issue from numerous different viewpoints.

 

[Steven123]

In a simple answer, yes, but it depends on what they are viewed as being biast upon.

a lot of papers are biased towards the area in which that paper is for. The Metro for example in the North East of England (where i live) will often try to "big up" the area, and it will show more support toward the local football teams than it will towards another team,regardless of how they are performing.


But as [MENTION=10446]sisterofmercy[/MENTION] said, they are viewed as biast because who ever is publishing a certain story, will give you their opinion, which is either shared or not, but if that opinion is not shared, the paper as a whole is viewed as being biast.

I don't really follow any government party as i think the government as a whole are useless in this country and i generaly tried to avoid talking about them because it's mostly negative.

But i wouldn't say that newspapers as such are biast,it's more the person writing the article, papers are generaly biast in the way that they tend to "support" (as good a word as any) the area in which they are.

 

[Enemies]

I think they're extremely biased but as anything in life you have to form you're own views on what you're reading. I don't usually read newspapers I prefer to go online or watch the news. I don't support any political party. Personally I think they're all liars. Thats just me.

 

[arabella]

The news is reported by humans. Humans are biased and therefore, despite any efforts to be unbiased, news is biased. This is why it is important to teach and employ critical thinking skills when handling the news. Knowing one's own biases and the source of the information's biases can be very helpful in processing news media.

And then there is Fox News...which should just be avoided. 😉