Is the media biased?

August 4, 1:58 PMAlameda County Independent ExaminerIsaac Morton

            It is a well-known fact that the personal opinions of a journalist can echo throughout news articles whether it is a liberal or conservative bias. With this in mind, do major news magazines have an overall bias that is seen throughout their articles and magazines? Well, if you were an editor for one of these magazines, would you hire people with the same or different views as yourself? You would most likely hire someone who sees things, and has the same beliefs as yourself. Sometimes this bias is blatant, and is easily recognized by the reader, but it can also be very subtle, and the bias may not be expressed in words. It may be how the writer structures the article that gives it a bias. The use of some words to exacerbate a situation to help the argument of one side is an example of a subtle bias. The structure of an article can create a bias. For example, in the case of gay marriage, if the article continues for two pages on how it is un-natural, un-godly, and just wrong and then has a short quote saying something like gays are entitled to equal rights, this shows a bias against gay rights. It does not give the pro-gay rights an opportunity to give their side of the argument. What I will do in this paper is argue, based on my research, whether U.S. News and World Report has a liberal, conservative, centrist, or no bias in its articles. I will do this by closely looking at three different contemporary ethical issues that are covered in this periodical and closely analyzing them for bias. Based on my research U.S. News and World Report has both subtle and blunt indications that they have a liberal bias in the case of gun control, gay rights, and abortion.

            U.S. News and World Report is a widely circulated news magazine that reaches and is read by more than two million people annually. I have researched this news source extensively, looking for any liberal or conservative biases within its articles. I decided to focus on three contemporary ethical arguments that, in the past year, have been hot topics in the news, and among Americans, especially with the elections this year. The issues are gun control, gay rights, and abortion. Gun control has been a hot topic with recent deranged gunman attacks across the U.S. Gay rights is another hot button issue because of the recent allowance of gay marriage in Connecticut and the prohibiting of gay marriage in California. Abortion has always been a hot topic for argument among liberals and conservatives and it will always continue to be one.  U.S. News and World Report has had many articles written about these issues during the past year, especially with the recent election that I have been able to read and analyze for biases.

            The first issue that I looked closely at was gun control. I was able to find many articles pertaining to gun control in U.S. News and World Report. For a few of the articles it was easy to find a liberal bias, and some I had to read through many

times before the bias was found. The majority of the articles on gun control had at least some form of a liberal bias. Many were blatant and easy to find, but some were not. In the case of gun control, liberals are for more restrictions on firearms and even an out right ban in some cases, and conservatives are against firearms restricting laws and want to repeal some laws that are already in affect. A centrist would be if the writer has shown both arguments equally with no bias. For this issue I have decided to use four articles and analyze them. The articles I decided to use are, “ In Congress, the Uphill Battle for Gun Control: Why its been years since significant federal legislation,” by Emma Schwartz, “Gun Control Update: Maryland Teen Stockpiling Guns and the Plans for Bush’s Motorcade Route,” by John Mashek,  “ Let D.C. Keep its Gun Ban,” also by John Mashek, and “A Well Worn Path to a Gun Shop Door: The ATF busts a New Orleans dealer, but replicating the success elsewhere won’t be easy,” by Emma Schwartz.

The first article was, “Gun Control Update: Maryland Teen Stockpiling Guns and the Plans for Bushes Motorcade Route,” August 6^th 2008, by John Mashek, a brief but very liberal article throughout. It begins by stating that a teenager in Maryland was found with an “arsenal” of guns and equipment for making explosives. It is only a brief article and it ends with Mashek asking, “ were these weapons for self defense? Any responsible person knows the answer.” In just the article’s title it is easy to see that this article has a liberal bias, when referring to “gun control update” you think you will be reading about new laws or propositions in some sate, but the way Mashek makes it sound as if this one person is an update to the argument of gun control. Using the word arsenal exaggerates the situation to make it look worse, because when someone says arsenal the reader thinks of hundreds of weapons and lots of explosives, if this were the case I think the writer would have mentioned how many weapons the teen had. Asking if these weapons were for self-defense definitely shows a liberal bias, because using weapons as self-defense is the argument of the conservatives and this is clearly not a case where they are being used in self-defense. Weapons used for self-defense are used against crazy people who stack up weapons like this guy did.  I thought that possibly Mashek was someone who wrote in to the magazine, or that this was an opinion article but I have found that he has written many articles for U.S. News and World Report. This article only shows one independent event, you could argue that they were just giving the news, but the way, in which Mashek went about it, he tried to advance the liberal argument for gun control by exaggerating the circumstances and using the conservative argument for less gun laws against them.

            It is easy to tell that an article named, “Let D.C. Keep Its Gun Ban,” November 26 2008, by John Mashek has some liberal biases. Mashek has written many articles for U.S. News and World Report, all of them seeming to have some liberal biases. In this article Mashek talk about the Washington D.C. handgun ban and how the Supreme Court overturned it after 31 years of enforcement. Mashek is not at all afraid to show how he feels about gun control, even when he is just reporting on the facts of a Supreme Court decision. Mashek explains, “Four conservative justices are probably ready to vote right now”.  He also goes on to say, “NRA and fellow travelers want to make sure that there are guns, guns, and more guns on America’s streets, in D.C. and elsewhere”. This article is very easy to see strong liberal biases. Nowhere in the article does Mashek show the side for conservative argument or allows a pro-gun defense, and therefore this article has a liberal bias.

            Emma Schwartz is the journalist who wrote, “A Well Worn Path to a Gun Shop Door: The ATF busts a New Orleans dealer, but replicating the success elsewhere won’t be easy,” July 23, 2008. It is a somewhat centrist article that talks about a gun dealer who is caught selling firearms to criminals and is arrested by the ATF. The fist time you read this article it seems to be a fair and accurate reporting of an event but if you look close you will begin to find very subtle liberal biases. For example one of the only people Schwartz quotes in this article is Daniel Webster, a professor of public policy at John Hopkins University, “And they have lousy federal laws to hold gun dealers accountable”, this quote is in favor of liberal gun control polices and ideas for more and stricter gun laws. Schwartz does not provide a reciprocal conservative argument in this article to counter what Webster said. Reading this article it starts out giving information on a major bust by federal agents which gave me the impression that it was a neutral article but when I took a closer look to who was quoted in the article, and it was clear that this article was framed to support a subtle liberal argument on gun control.

            In March of this year Emma Schwartz wrote “In Congress, the Uphill Battle for Gun Control: Why it’s been years since significant federal legislation.” Once again just looking closely at the title of the article can show some subtle liberal biases.        Does “ The uphill battle” mean that the NRA is fighting an easy down hill battle? If the NRA is fighting an easy battle why does Schwartz later quote in the article how much money the NRA spends on lobbyist? 20-30 million does not sound like a down hill battle. The article starts out with Schwartz saying, “ the all too familiar: a disturbed gunman opens fire in a school, an office, or even a shopping center, and before horrified spectators, slaughters innocent men, women, and even children.” Is it really all to familiar or is it just a subjective awareness making it seem like it is happening all around us? Or rather than an objective reality that is really happening all around us that it is all too familiar? This article, although I believe it to have liberal biases does offer a small paragraph where they allow conservatives a chance to give their argument to a law that does not allow people to keep firearms in their car while they are at work in Georgia. Arizona State Republican Rep. Jonanathan Paton says, “There’s a lot of no mans land between where some people work and where they live…This is about people’s right and whether they feel safe or not.” But before giving this quote Schwartz makes a point that some Democrats are in favor of lifting this law. In this entire article this quote is the only conservative argument against gun control. In the article Schwartz attacks the NRA saying, “It is nearly impossible to even discuss laws targeting illegal guns. The powerful group [NRA] has about 4 million members nationwide, a 20 million to 30 million lobbying budget…” Schwartz never mentions the budget of gun control lobbyists. Also there are some subtle worlds that are used in this article that also show a mild liberal biases such as, “relax the laws” and “under Democratic leadership and the emotional wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.” The word leadership is only used when talking about Democrats but the word relax is used when talking about conservatives take on gun control. After reading this article a few times I have no doubt in my mind that it does have some significant liberal biases in it, not just what is written, but how it is written helps advance the argument of liberal ideas on gun control with little friction from a conservative view point.

            The next issue I took a close look at is the issue of pro-choice and pro-life between liberals and conservatives. Once again I was able to find many articles on this issue written by many different people. While reading these articles I was not able to find any real bias, and for most of the articles the writer fairly represented both sides equally. Most of the articles I found were just based on facts, especially with the recent propositions in this year’s election. In the case of abortion, liberals are pro-choice meaning they believe that women should have the choice of abortion, and conservatives are pro-life meaning they support laws restricting abortion. There are three articles that I have decided to use and analyze for a bias, and they are, “Conservative Platform in the Spotlight.” by Nikki Schwab,  “ New Abortion Study Fuels Criticism of Obama and Praise of Palin.” by Liz Halloran and “Abortions Death as a Wedge Issue in the West.” by Laura Chapin.

            U.S. news and World Report published this article in September of 2008, “New Abortion Study Fuels Criticism of Obama and Praise of Palin” by Liz Halloran, I found it to be very centrist showing both sides of the argument equally. The article compares Obama and Palin when it comes to abortion and the law. This article quotes information from the Susan B. Anthony List, saying that the presidential tickets “ could not be any different” because of their differing views on abortion. The SBA list is a nonprofit organization that is pushing to put more regulations on abortion. The article also gives statistics on states that have passed abortion-restricting laws such as parental consent showing how it has lowered the number of girls having abortions. This article, I feel is centrist and does a fair job at showing both sides of this debate and does a good job informing the reader of the issue.

            In the article “Conservative Platform in the Spotlight,” October 2008, by Nikki Schwab, there seems to be little to no bias the first time I read it, but when I looked closer I was able to find some minor liberal bias. Schwab starts the article off by saying, “while Democrats used ballot initiatives to their benefit in 2006, boosting the minimum wage in six states… it is the conservative wish list that is making headlines this election.” Well first I noticed that Schwab mentioned that the Democrats did something good by raising minimum wage, but the conservatives this past election were working on controversial issues such as abortion, gun control, and gay rights, that could have a negative affect on a subordinate group of Americans, such as the working class, and some minorities affected by racial inequality. I don’t think this is much of a bias but it does make it seem as if the Democrats are doing a better job at helping the people of America. For the rest of the article Schwab gives more information on the ballot initiatives in different states with this year’s election. The rest of the article shows each side of the issue of abortion, gay marriage, and affirmative action. This article is a fair representation of both sides of an argument, but still has a subtle liberal bias.

Laura Chapin wrote the article, “Abortion’s Death as a Wedge Issue in the West,” November 14 2008, an article that gives the results of the election in regard to propositions that had to do with abortion. It appears to be a celebration article for liberals who want pro-choice in the laws. Chapin wrote, “ lost amid the culture warriors’ cheers over the success of prop 8 in California were two substantial social conservative political failures: antiabortion initiatives in South Dakota and Colorado, two states George W Bush won in 2004.” This entire article is written with a tone highlighting that the liberals have won this past election for the most part with exception to ballot initiatives such as Prop 8 in California. When talking about the proposition in Colorado Chapin said, “westerners are inherently allergic to being told what to do, especially by deceptive means.” This quote shows a subtle liberal bias saying that conservatives are not only trying to tell people what to do, but also that they are doing it by deceptive means. In all, this article does have a liberal bias if you read into in enough, and look at how the article is structured, but it does report on facts and true events.

            The next issue I am researching is gay rights. Once again because of the recent election there is a wealth of articles on the subject in U.S. News and Word Report. By gay rights I mean the right to adopt and gays being covered under the civil rights acts at work and in the community. Most of what I have found in the articles is a subtle liberal bias. In the case of gay rights liberals support gay rights and gay marriage while conservatives do not, and support the traditional family and believe that the church should have its hand in government. For gay rights I decided to use two articles, “ A Quiet Fight Over Gay Adoption: The battle lines are similar to the same-sex marriage debate.” by Amanda Ruggeri, and “ As Connecticut Allows Same-Sex Marriage, the Debate Continues in California.” by Justin Ewers.

            The first article on gay rights I read was “ A Quiet Fight Over Gay Adoption: The battle lines are similar to the same-sex marriage debate,” November 3^rd 2008, by Amanda Ruggeri. This article brings to light the fact that gays can not adopt children in many states because of laws that only allow traditional families to adopt or in the case of Utah only allowing people who are married to adopt children. The first line of the article I believe is meant to bring on sympathy for gay couples trying to adopt children, and also the children who want to be adopted. Ruggeri writes, “ In less than a month, two little boys in Miami will learn if their foster father can become their adopted dad—or if they’ll continue to be wards of the state.” This first line has a subtle liberal bias because it makes it seem as if the conservatives want the little boys to stay as wards of the state. This article has a few liberal biases in it but they are very subtle for example, Ruggeri says, “Allowing gay couples to adopt is also seen by many conservatives as an unacceptable step closer to allowing same-sex marriage.” This line singles out conservatives and makes it seem that the only reason they don’t want gays to be able to adopt is because they don’t believe they have the right to be married. Even though this is true of conservatives, the writer still does not fairly represent conservatives view on gay adoption, other than the fact that they don’t want it to happen. In all, this article is mostly liberal, subtle, but liberal nonetheless.

The second article on gay rights I have analyzed is, “As Connecticut Allows Same-Sex Marriage, the Debate Continues in California,” November 13^th 2008, by Justin Ewers. This article does a great job at showing both sides on the debate over gay marriage. Ben Klein, a lawyer with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, is quoted in the article saying, “Today, Connecticut sends a message of hope and promise to lesbian and gay people throughout the country who want to be treated as equal citizens by their government.” This quote is from a liberal standpoint and is reciprocated by a conservative quote by Peter Wolfgang who is the executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut. Wolfgang was quoted saying, “ Unlike California, we did not have a remedy…it must be overturned with patience, determination, and fortitude.” This article has no liberal or conservative bias, and fairly represents both sides of the argument weather it be liberal or conservative.

            After reading all the articles on gay rights, abortion, and gun control in U.S. News and World Report, gun control was the only issue of the three that had continual liberal biases in the articles. In the case of abortion and gay rights there were some subtle liberal biases but over all the writer made a fair attempt to show both sides of the argument. Major news magazines such as U.S. News and World Report do make a difference in the way Americans feel about certain issues. If the reporter decides to leave out facts on one side of the argument it can have a major affect on how the majority of Americans feel about the issue. This is truer during election years and, both presidential candidates this year had to battle bad press this past election.            

Its not that the writers are always trying to sway how people feel about some issue, although some are. I believe that most writers just have their own opinion and it comes out in the article inadvertently. Other writers purposely frame their article to have a bias and to support their opinion in the matter. In the end I believe that Americans can avoid being swayed a certain way by media biases by reading more than one magazine and doing research on issues that they feel are important; especially during election years. It is not always the medias fault if a person reads an article with a bias and agrees with the bias. It is the duty of Americans to do research on the issues that they are voting on and not just read an article and agree with the writer of the article. Unfortunately most Americans are to lazy to do this, thus giving the media more power than it should have.

Chapin, Laura K. "Abortion's Death as a Wedge Issue in the West. " U.S. News & World Report.  (Nov 14, 2008): NA. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A189064888&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>.

Halloran, Liz. "New Abortion Study Fuels Criticism of Obama and Praise of Palin.(Baraco Obama and Sarah Palin). ." U.S. News & World Report.  (Sept 19, 2008): NA. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 21 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A185397757&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>

Ewers, Justin. "As Connecticut Allows Same-Sex Marriage, the Debate Continues in California. " U.S. News & World Report.  (Nov 13, 2008): NA. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A188963425&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>.

Mashek, John W. "Gun Control Update: Maryland Teen Stockpiling Guns and the Plans for Bush's Motorcade Route.(Brief article). ." U.S. News & World Report.  (August 6, 2008): NA. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A182409416&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>.

Mashek, John W. "Let D.C. Keep Its Gun Ban.(Washington D.C.'s restriction of firearms). ." U.S. News & World Report.  (Nov 26, 2007): NA. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A171828591&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>

Ruggeri, Amanda. "A Quiet Fight Over Gay Adoption; The battle lines are similar to the same-sex marriage debate. " U.S. News & World Report.  145.10 (Nov 3, 2008): 29. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A187692746&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>.

Schwab, Nikki. "Conservative Platform in the Spotlight. " U.S. News & World Report.  145.9 (Oct 27, 2008): 56. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 19 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A187062404&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>.

Schwartz, Emma. "In Congress, the Uphill Battle for Gun Control; Why it's been years since significant federal legislation. " U.S. News & World Report.  144.8 (March 17, 2008): 41. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 18 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A176220039&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>.

Schwartz, Emma. "A Well-Worn Path to a Gun Shop Door; The ATF busts a New Orleans dealer, but replicating the success elsewhere won't be easy.(Elliot's Gun Shop; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives). ." U.S. News & World Report.  143.3 (July 23, 2007): 29. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Los Medanos College. 21 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=EAIM&docId=A166450752&source=gale&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&version=1.0>.