An Analysis of News Objectivity in the Mainstream

It is expected that reporters present the news with complete objectivity, but is that really the case in the United States today? 

A Gallup poll conducted last year found that Americans’ trust in the media is 41%, meaning that over half of the country does not feel the mass media reports the news “fully, fairly, and accurately.” But, the divide is not evenly split by parties.  The same poll found that 69% of Democrats have trust in the mass media, while only 15% of Republicans say the same. 

Now, it is important to understand what is considered the “mainstream” media in the United States. In general, mainstream media refers to traditional news outlets including television, radio, and newspaper. But the term “mainstream media” has taken on a new definition in recent years. Ask Republicans and they might say that the “mainstream media” is one with a glaring liberal bias and that journalists are the “enemy of the American people.” This matters because it can be used to explain why Republicans have so little trust in the mass media. For them, the media is not the fourth estate that it claims to be, one that is meant to hold the government accountable. While Democrats hold a positive view of the media, Republicans see it negatively because there is a widely held perception among Americans that the media has a liberal bias. 

By that accord, it is clear that Americans believe there is partiality in most news organizations but is that true? A week-long analysis of news sources would suggest yes. 

The issue on the table: coronavirus stimulus package negotiations. This was a heavily contested issue, with Democrats and Republicans being unable to agree on a package that fulfills both of their agendas. On September 10, the proposed Republican plan was brought to the Senate floor for a vote, which Democrats voted unanimously to block. The vote kicked off a gridlock between Senate Democrats and Republicans, with Democrats wanting the stimulus package to include more money than Republicans have said they are willing to spend. Now, the negotiations are at a standstill until a compromise can be reached. 

The two sources I investigated were the New York Times and One America News Network, the former having a liberal lean and the latter a conservative lean. It is also important to note that the New York Times has been around since the 1850s, while One America News is only a few years old. 

Throughout the course of the week, the New York Times seemed to provide a better factual account of the issue at hand, with One America News largely failing to provide substantive details on the status of stimulus negotiations. When it comes to how informative the article is, the New York Times certainly has the upper hand. But, the real interesting juxtaposition between these two sources is the way in which they use framing to tell a story that fits each partisan agenda. 

For example, one One America News article states that “Democrats want a sweeping bill and have argued the GOP isn’t going far enough.” By framing the issue in this way, all the blame is transferred onto the Democratic party, while failing to acknowledge the role of the GOP in the stalled negotiations. This is evidence of conservative bias in the reporting because it makes it seem as if the Democrats are just being unreasonable and unwilling to cooperate with Senate Republicans, which arguably is not the case. 

The New York Times exhibits a similar framing bias in an article about stalled negotiations, although is not as blatant as its counterpart. The liberal bias in this article comes from the choice to only include quotes from Democratic lawmakers. In this way, the authors have failed to incorporate the perspective from Republicans and that is evidence of a slight bias. 

It is also interesting to consider the language used by both sources as language can be a powerful tool in determining the angle of coverage. While the headlines from the New York Times seem to be more bipartisan, phrases like “As Democrats Fret” elicit an empathetic feeling towards Democrats as it makes them seem more vulnerable and worried. This is an appeal to the liberal audience of the Times. Similarly, One America News uses emotional and pointed language in its headlines such as “President Trump blasts Pelosi” and “‘skinny stimulus bill’.” in order to elicit a strong response from their almost exclusively conservative audience. 

The comparison of these two sources may seem unfit considering the drastic partisan lean of One America News and the subtle partisan lean of the New York Times, so I offer up another comparison between Fox News and the Guardian. The focus of the articles from these sources is police protests, an issue that has become increasingly polarized in the past few months. 

The two articles at focus discuss a recent shooting of two Los Angeles Police Department officers and the protests that ensued outside of the hospital and both sources present a stark contrast against one another and make the issue of framing quite salient. 

For example, Fox News is a right-leaning news organization and its partisanship can be detected in its coverage of this event. The article features quotes from Dan Bogino, a former NYPD officer and current Fox News contributor. The Fox News decision  to only include quotes from this one person is telling because he makes a lot of sensationalized comments, like “they don’t even have a basic semblance of what’s right and wrong” and “pure, unadulterated savagery” that the author does not attempt to substantiate with evidence. Furthermore, by choosing a person that is a personality of Fox News to comment, the echo chamber effect was doubled, meaning that he confirmed what the author already knew she was going to write about the protest. 

The Guardian, on the other hand, is a left-leaning publication and the most obvious evidence of this is in the piece is in the author’s decision to fact check President Trump’s comment on the death penalty in California. Still, the Guardian seems to be more successful in the mission of serving as an accountability mechanism for the government by fact-checking these claims. 

Despite the juxtaposing partisan leanings that these two sources exemplify, neither includes the perspective of protestors, which is interesting considering that group of people is half of the story. In this way, both articles favor the perspective of the police, which is likely to frame the issue with readers in that same way. 

None of the sources examined over the course of the week provided a completely unbiased account of whatever they were reporting on which could help explain why Americans have so much distrust in the media. 

References: 

Beckett, Lois. “Two Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies Wounded in Compton Attack.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Sept. 2020, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/13/two-los-angeles-sheriffs-deputies-wounded-compton-ambush-trump.

Brenan, Megan. “Americans’ Trust in Mass Media Edges Down to 41%.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 11 Sept. 2020, news.gallup.com/poll/267047/americans-trust-mass-media-edges-down.aspx.

Cochrane, Emily, and Nicholas Fandos. “As Democrats Fret, Pelosi Vows to Act Again on Stimulus Plan Before Election.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/us/politics/bipartisan-stimulus-bill.html?searchResultPosition=4.

Cochrane, Emily, and Jim Tankersley. “Hopes Dim for More Stimulus as Democrats Block Narrow G.O.P. Plan.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/us/politics/second-stimulus-check.html.

Ekins, Emily. “63% Of Republicans Say Journalists Are an ‘Enemy of the American People.’” Cato Institute, 1 Nov. 2017, www.cato.org/blog/63-republicans-say-journalists-are-enemy-american-people.

“In Views of U.S. Democracy, Widening Partisan Divides Over Freedom to Peacefully Protest.” Pew Research Center – U.S. Politics & Policy, Pew Research Center, 14 Sept. 2020, www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/09/02/in-views-of-u-s-democracy-widening-partisan-divides-over-freedom-to-peacefully-protest/.

Kaplan, Talia. “Bongino on Shooting of LA Deputies: Some Protesters Practicing ‘Pure Unadulterated Savagery’.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 13 Sept. 2020, www.foxnews.com/us/dan-bongino-la-county-sheriff-deputies-ambush-protesters.

“President Trump Blasts Pelosi, Schumer over Stalled Virus Stimulus.” One America News Network, www.oann.com/president-trump-blasts-pelosi-schumer-over-stalled-virus-stimulus/.