News Analysis

News Analysis

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment or religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Free press has been a much debated subject for over 200 years, and it seems that news stations are the center of discussion when it comes down to how freedom of speech is abused. It seems that mainstream media is corrupted by the influence of government and corporate interests rather than serving the people a non bias broadcast. I believe that news organizations should behave differently and not abuse this amendment. Also, limitations should be enforced on what information is provided to the people.

In today's world it seems that money is the most important thing for people, and news broadcasting is a money making business. Because of that, they must create a product for their customers to make a profit no matter how bias the broadcast is. Thirty-nine percent of people think that news organizations try to report without bias and more than sixty percent believe that making up stories is a common problem (http://en.wikipedia.org np). To draw in viewers, the news gives biased stories creating conflict. For example, something that is creating controversy in the news is the war in Iraq. The war is everywhere. If you turn on your television it is staring you in the face, whether it is with bombs, bodies or flags. The media is changing to fit itself into the war niche. It seems as if the broadcastings of news organizations try to find one problem and blame everything on that, such as oil. Each time I have seen statistics about something on different stations they are not consistent with each other and the public as well as myself do not get a good view on what is actually true and what is not.

A watchdog has been used to try to keep bias in the news as low as possible. A watchdog is seen as the fourth branch of the government and scrutinizes the government on behalf of the people. One large watchdog organization is Accuracy in the Media (AIM). Accuracy in Media is a nonprofit media watchdog organization whose purpose is to make the public aware of biases in all forms of the media including television news, radio shows, newspapers, and print magazines. AIM members also encourage the media to report the news fairly without resorting to bias or partisanship (FOX NEWS). It is necessary to