Opinion: Journalistic responsibility & media bias against Trump
On November 3rd, I stayed awake until 1 a.m. vainly hoping for some idea of who would become or remain president of the United States of America.
Of course, the vote-counting took much longer than that for a few states (we’re looking at you, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada) and I have to say, the election was much closer than I had anticipated. Biden pulled a victory and celebrities in California spread the news like wildfire. Regardless of who won the election, the fact remains that nearly 48% of Americans voted for Trump and, as of November 18, Trump has 232 votes from the electoral college.
How did we become a divided country? Most of our news sources are left-leaning, thereby polarizing the media we intake. The media’s bias is illustrated in several ways, namely, through the questions asked, the opinions expressed and the lack of respect offered.
According to NowThis politics, in September a journalist asked President Trump: “Win, lose or draw in this election, will you commit here, today, for a peaceful transferal of power after the election? There has been rioting in Louisville. There’s been rioting in many cities across this country — red and your so-called red and blue states. Will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transferal of power after the election?”
As an example of unfair questioning based on journalistic bias, the wording of this journalist’s question is very important. The original question was whether or not President Trump will be peaceful in the event of a transfer of presidential power but the question quickly became whether or not Trump will prevent riots and be held accountable for his party’s actions.
President Trump is wrong about many things, but he is not wrong about the bias the media has against him. Asking anyone to control an entire political party is unrealistic and unfair. People will act rashly or responsibly, regardless of who is being supported.
As someone who is currently going through the journalism program at USU, I’ve learned that a journalist’s biggest responsibility is to the truth. But this responsibility seems to be slipping away from modern-day journalists in the US.
American journalist Anderson Cooper declared on live television, “That is the president of the United States. That is the most powerful person in the world. And we see him like an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over.” This is not appropriate or nonpartisan, but it was said on the news, exemplifying the growing bias that is showing up not only on social media platforms but on supposedly credible news programs.
On election night, NBC journalists interrupted Trump’s speech to “fact check” some of the things he was saying, which was completely unnecessary. Like Biden, Trump made some assumptions and guesses about which way the remaining states were going to vote. Of course, Biden’s speech was not interrupted. When NBC journalists could have simply waited until the end of Trump’s speech to “fact check,” they interrupted the President.
I am calling for something radical: an end to harassment, bullying and judgement based on political affiliations. I am calling for unity. To combat the spread of this division in America, we need journalists who are committed to the truth, not to a political party.
The fact remains that we, as a country, are resorting to rioting, bullying and threatening those whose beliefs differ from our own rather than protesting peacefully and fostering opportunities for growth and love for each other, regardless of our differences.
I believe that the majority of Americans want the best for this country and it is unfair and inaccurate to assume otherwise. Media bias against the political parties needs to end if we hope to ever create positive change in our country.
A nation cannot change if it is divided.
Emily White is a third year student studying English and broadcast journalism.
emily.white@usu.edu
This article is complete trash. It’s not unfair or biased to ask a president to make a statement/stance on behalf of the political party that they are the face of. Especially being the highest elected politician in that said party.
As a journalism student you should understand that language, especially the use of divisive language (which Trump consistently uses (NPR, NYT, etc. all have reports on this)), is critical. Trump’s portrayal in the media is no less accurate than it has been for previous presidents.
So instead of demonizing fair & free journalism, a critical piece of our democracy, you could examine the fact that Trump has more disgusting & unpresidential behavior than any POTUS prior.
I agree that Trump is the most unprofessional and under-qualified president that we’ve ever had, however, I think you’re missing the point of the article. Emily isn’t giving excuses or justifying Trump in the slightest. She is criticizing modern-day journalism and the polarity of the country. I agree with Emily and her opinion that the media is biased, against both sides. Journalism is supposed to report on facts in an unbiased way and let the viewers decide for themselves what they think, otherwise, we’re dancing on a very thin line between journalism and propaganda. If you analyze the language that is used by the media, it is charged and it is biased and it is not what the ethical journalism is supposed to be. The SPJ Code of Ethics calls on journalists to Act Independently, which would discourage them from being biased, for or against, any party or organization. Using charged language and descriptions is not ethical journalism.
Emily did a great job in the article. I commend her for it.
Emily’s accuracy in this article is obvious even to the most casual observer. Ask anyone on the left and they will tell you fox is bias. Ask anyone on the right and they will tell you Trent, er….um….MSNBC is full of political hacks. Her point in journalists should be fair and open minded. Unfortunately there are people on both sides, Like Trent who are too busy clamoring for affirmation of their bias to seek real objective truth.