I’m sure you’ve seen it; extremely biased media, especially these past few hectic months preceding the election. You may not have noticed it right off the bat, but it is definitely there. Most of our major media sources, such as CNN, FOX, NBC, and ABC, are pushing their own political agendas by being selective about the stories and events they cover, or don’t. There are many examples of this, but you won’t see them on these major news sources.
Most of these news companies are either right or left wing, the vast majority being on the left. The left is liberal, the right being the more conservative. Many of these media groups, even some of the right winged ones have complained and asked, “How did Donald Trump, the billionaire, businessman, and reality star get to this point?”. The answer is simple- the media gave him lots of attention, fueling the fire, metaphorically. They ask how he got to be the president of the United States elect. It was partially their fault. None of them took him seriously, and he felt that had to prove himself to them. If the media had just let it blow over, Trump probably would not have been elected. When Donald had said another bombastic, rude, maybe offensive comment, the news would have a field day calling him a racist, sexist, homophobic man, and they would often take things out of context as well as making them sound worse than what he actually said. Another result of this is people believing Trump is some sort of modern day monster, some people even comparing him to Adolf Hitler, which is not something to use lightly. If the information they are getting from the media makes him out to be like a man who attempted genocide, then there is obviously something very wrong.

Another example is in October 2016, NBC completely ignored the fact that Obama’s health plan has made premiums spike. Many news outlets such as ABC, CBS, and CNN reported this, but NBC failed to do so, quite possibly because they have hidden agendas supporting the left wing. If they were unbiased, why wouldn’t they want to produce as many factual stories as they could, since they are NBC’s source of income? Probably because they have special interests in the political field.

When people who are busy want to hear about current events, do you think they spend lots of time searching for unbiased news, or do you think that they find whatever’s convenient at the time? They most likely don’t spend time on looking for unbiased news sources because they could be at work making money, spending time with family, or watching other TV. So, if they see from CNN that Clinton is good and Trump is bad, who do you think they would vote for?

What I hope you take away from this article is awareness. If you believe in the same things as these news sources, then that’s perfectly fine. If you don’t, that’s also perfectly fine. I am just here to bring some insight as to how much the media can influence us directly or indirectly, and the huge role it plays in our daily lives.