Okay so this week in our English class we did not do anything specific. We continued talking about Host by David Foster Wallace (which by the way is an interesting read if you ever get a chance). We also talked a little about the vice presidential debate (which I expected to be a very funny one but instead turn out to be one of the most serious debates I ever watched. All my roommates and I were waiting anxiously for Sarah Palin to say something stupid one more time.. but not this time. She was well prepared and made a huge comeback by directly attacking Obama and Biden). On Friday we actually talked about something that not many people are concerned about. We talked about Liberal media and its role during this critical election time. My professor expected all of us to have heard this term like a million times. But as far I am concerned, it was the first time ever that I heard of the term. LOL. I read the article from THE NATION on Liberal Media which gave me a better understanding of what exactly it meant.
Liberal Media was often used as an excuse by the conservatives for conservative failures. They blamed it on the media to give special coverage to the liberals so that the liberals could better communicate their ideas to the larger masses of the people. But some republicans are honest enough to admit that there is no such thing as bias towards the liberals by the media. Patrick Buchanan, one of the most conservative presidential candidates in Republican history, admitted that he could not identify any allegedly liberal bias against him during his presidential campaigns. He admitted to have equal and balanced coverage.
Personally I believe that the media is not biased towards either the left wing or the right wing. They choose to give broader coverage to the stories of either party-----stories that will attract more viewers to their news channels. With cut throat competition among the news channels, the media cannot afford to side either one of the two parties. The media is no longer neutral. It’s all about their own monetary profit. They select their news based on how many viewers and advertisement sponsorers they can get. For example, ABC World News and CNN News TV channels made a big deal about Sarah Palin’s controversial remarks in several interviews earlier last month. This might make it seem that there is a strong and powerful existence of liberal media. But it’s not exactly true. Sean Hannity of Fox news delivered a special report entitled ‘Obama and Friends’ where he questioned Obama’s worthiness to be the next commander-in-chief. According to Sean Hannity, Obama has had close ties with various radical and terrorist organizations in the past which makes him unfit to lead America. So in the end it all ends up to PERSONAL BIAS. It all depends on what news channel appeals YOU the most and what news YOU choose to watch more often. Bias lies in every step of our lives and it is practically impossible to have a bias-free society. Its something we have to get used to.
I am calling it night, tune back next week!
