Mass medias influence on American politics Term Paper

Mass medias influence on American politics - Term Paper Example Within this essay, this disservice will be discussed and many examples provided, proving that journalists do sometimes abuse their power when reporting political campaigns and/or political events or happenings, which can lead to misinformation and also damage of reputation for those involved in â€Å"biased† mass media reporting. One of the first examples that come to mind concerning biased reporting of politics comes from the everyday reporting of CNN and FOX television and web news. According to a journalism professor at The University of Tennessee, The Associated Press, which sets the standard for accredited news reporting throughout the United States, says that if you give one political candidate or party a certain amount of time on-air, in the newspaper or online, you must also give the opposing candidate the same amount of time and/or space. Neither of these mediums should do this; this is unfair and biased reporting, unethical on both network’s accounts. CNN is p rimarily a democratic network (Hyscience) and FOX is primarily a republican (Hyscience) network. Both of these networks work overtime bashing each other and defending the political party of their choice. For instance, during last year’s Tea Party republican rally, held in Nevada, it was reported by CNN that â€Å"dozens of people showed up† for this particular political event (Wizbang). However, other sources (Rightnetwork) provided pictures proving that thousands of people actually showed up for the Tea Party rally. CNN’s play on words, saying that â€Å"dozens† showed up, made it sound as if almost nobody showed up to support the Tea Party rally. Other sources estimated thousands of people showing up and also provided pictures of the multitude of people who showed up for the event. CNN’s bias toward the Democratic Party, in this case, was most certainly unethical, according to Associated Press standards, and these biased reports to the public mad e it look as if the Tea Party was just a minor event when in all actuality, it was a huge event. Also, MSNBC was very happy to report and broadcast a video recently of President Barack Obama being â€Å"snubbed† by Russian leaders (Youtube). This was broadcasted by MSNBC, another primarily republican network, only to make President Barack Obama look â€Å"bad†, like he isn’t being accepted by other world leaders. With the presidential re-election coming up, a conclusion could easily be drawn that MSNBC’s intentions for airing the video is to make the public consider the possible lack of respect that the rest of the world holds for President Barack Obama in hopes that he will lose the upcoming election. Reporting this in a negative light, unless it is the absolute truth, is most certainly unethical on MSNBC’s behalf. Yet another instance of unfair and biased reporting came many years ago, when former President Bill Clinton had an affair with Whiteho use intern, Monica Lewinski. Lewinski was â€Å"ragged† by the media and her character absolutely ripped apart by almost every network throughout the entire United States of America. They portrayed her as a â€Å"loose† woman, a â€Å"whore† and seemed to blame her more for the affair than they did the president himself. Of the millions of networks that portrayed her as such, only Barbara Walters, a huge name in the field of journalism,