Innocent until proven guilty
The definition of bias could be looked at as one’s tendency to lean towards someone or something as a form of opposition to the others. However, there are these claims of the media being biased to what they report, but isn’t it their sole job to consequently report every side of the story, regardless of who posted what first? Personally, and probably the thoughts of others’ that can really understand how the media world works, too, is how that the only time that these outlets are biased is their application of centrism towards political views, for the deliverance of knowledge and information to the community is what they are working for, nothing else. For the information of others, this is typically what is discussed on their ethical guidelines for work before even being on field, or even during their prime days before professionalism.
With the taken oath of being fair and just in delivering news, it has become innate for such to only be objective in creating scopes, hence, not being picky with what to present in public. More so, it is not only hurtful for the outlets whenever called bias, not that it hurts because the assumptions are true because it is not, but it also shows where the accuser spends most of their time—listening to real partial sources of information. After all, we only call something biased when we do not hear what we want to hear, right?
In this digital age, it is important for one to be able to recognize what could be truly prejudiced by having a checklist of should-be-seen, before assuming that media outlets are opposing the truth.
Are all the sources used in the news accurate and progressive? When presenting a government or political issue, does the outlet focus more on what will make those involved look like or do they still seem all-for-the-public? Moreover, the so-called bias should not only circle with the public’s interest of seeing their preferred candidates or politicians be glorified but should also pay attention to how media outlets are focusing on the main context, to make sure that there will be no imposition of double standards or fixated point-of-view, and to not immediately resort to calling them ‘payees’ just because their desired content is not shown.
Media bias has the capacity to cause divisions to the society as varied opinions may arise, but if the article shares obvious factual information and backed with evidence from reliable sources, then it shows a trustworthy representation of a topic.
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