NATIONAL MEDIA BIAS IN POLITICAL COVERAGE

National Media Bias in political coverage

National Media Bias in Political Coverage

Introduction

Nationally-circulated newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today are often noted for their agenda-setting functions. However, there are millions of Americans who do not read these national newspapers, but instead rely on their local newspapers for information about political campaigns (Alterman, 2007). Regardless of if a media source is local or national; the source is afforded a great deal of power in its ability to set the agenda for what is important in the campaign. Further, the media often carry the privilege and responsibility of filtering, interpreting, and spinning campaign events.

In fact, how the press reports on a campaign event, such as a candidate debate or speech, for example, may be more influential than a voter's initial reaction to that event. Both national and local media will frequently provide spin on political events such as campaign speeches, advertisements, and debates. Local media, in particular, may provide additional framing of the local importance or relevance of a campaign issue (D'Alession, Allen, 2006).

Framing is an important issue in both local and national media coverage. Framing refers to the way reporters select stories and influence the salience attributed to a news story or element of that news story. Framing is often associated with issues of media bias. However, connotations of framing are not always negative. Local media should be expected to frame a story about a national campaign in a way that best relates it to their local audiences (Friedman, 2005). For example, it is a common and logical practice for local media to consult their congressional representatives on national issues. Similarly, local media will often report on presidential candidates' visits to local populations (Schiffer, 2006).

Discussion

News about politics and elections is generally fairly neutral and descriptive or slightly negative in tone. This characteristic is almost inherent to the conventions of the news genre that suggest that “good news” is generally less newsworthy. There are significant differences in news cultures so that, for example, news in Britain can be very explicit and evaluative whereas news in other places contains much less evaluation. News media in the United States are often accused of a liberal bias, but most studies have concluded that presidential campaigns and elections are covered in a fairly balanced manner (Gans, 2006). News in more totalitarian regimes tends to be more favorable toward incumbent governmental actors than toward the political opposition. Tone is important for how citizens perceive candidates, their competence, and prospective qualities.

The media's structural bias not only favors negative news, it also favors conflict. Just as human attention is naturally drawn toward negative information; it also naturally turns toward conflict. Consequently, the media are partial to stories that portray individuals in a state of conflict. Illustrating the media's fondness for featuring conflict, political news stories often follow a “Democrat said/Republican said” pattern. In this pattern, the news story presents an argument from a member of one major political party ...