In the lead-up to the 2011 Uganda General elections, Daily Monitor, a privately-owned newspaper ran by news company Nation Media Group, mounted huge billboards.
Notably, the billboards were mounted within strategic locations of Kampala city streets and other major highways.
On the billboards, a giant pair of scissors sliced through hanging ropes, and big letters declared, “You get the truth because we’ve no strings attached. The one to trust—Daily Monitor.”
In addition, at the bottom, their usual slogan, “Truth every day,” was displayed.
The billboard was a subtle jab at the Daily Monitor’s main competitor, the mostly state-owned New Vision newspaper, implying that they might not be as independent.
However, this kind of competition between media outlets for public trust is common, especially during election seasons.
Furthermore, these days, elections all around the world receive a lot of attention from the media.
The elections in the United States, for example, get watched by people everywhere.
News Coverage of Elections
Nevertheless, strategies used in such elections are carefully looked at and often used as examples in other democracies.
The media further gives a lot of coverage to the strategies and topics of the elections.
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Because people rely so much on the media to learn about the election processes, parties, and campaigns, the citizenry pays close attention to what’s being said in the media when deciding how to vote.
As the years go by, modern technology in the media is becoming increasingly used to reach out to voters and communicate with them.
Media Bias
For example, Fox News has been accused many times of not being fair and balanced in its news coverage.
Fox News is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website.
Notably, some big names and groups have earlier commented that Fox News leans heavily towards a conservative viewpoint.
CNN founder Ted Turner called it a “propaganda voice” for the Bush administration.
In addition, former New York Times editor Howell Raines labelled Fox News being a big news organization promoting one political party.
On the other hand, Jeff Chester from the Center for Digital Democracy even said it’s like a 24/7 advert for the Republican Party.
The watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting added that with Fox News, there’s now a national conservative TV network along with the more neutral ones.
Additionally, even a conservative columnist and Fox News contributor, Jonah Goldberg, admitted that Fox News tends to lean to the right.
This was based especially on its opinion segments and what stories they choose to cover. Many people believe that Fox News isn’t as balanced as it claims to be.
Since it’s the most-watched news network in the US, it has an enormous influence on what people think. But because it’s so controversial, it’s worth looking into.
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Accuracy and Fairness in News
According to the Encyclopedia of Media and Politics, “media bias occurs when coverage lacks fairness or accuracy because it favors a particular political perspective.”
Accuracy, fairness, and balance lie at the core of the concept of objectivity.
Media bias thus concerns situations in which the media deviate from these journalistic standards and consequently, objectivity is compromised.
Furthermore, the foundation of a standard journalistic process is laid by first determining whether a topic is worthy of exploration.
Next is to seek out reliable sources of information, corroborating the information gained by finding other sources to substantiate it.
Substantiation is followed by finding contradicting information from other sources, to provide balance.
Thereafter, writing or producing of the news piece before submitting to an editor for evaluation and editing follows.
Finally, re-writing of the story for publication forms the last process.
In addition, this process involves reaching out and seeking information to inform the public.
It includes much research and verification of facts and often includes opposing points of view.
However, some media organizations often disregard this procedure and do not appear to even strive for objectivity.
Bias is examined in three different areas, which is the personal and corporate sphere, the institutional sphere concerning the internal organization and professional realization of news-making, and media effects.
How News are Affected by Ownership and Affiliations
Most media organizations around the world have their leadership and staff closely affiliated with political organizations.
In fact, the connection exists on many levels and reveals itself in the form of memberships, personal ties, financial and logistic support, or public endorsement.
For instance, The Fox News Channel was founded by its current chairman and CEO, billionaire Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-born media magnate.
The billionaire has a long history of political involvement and stands for a very conservative point of view.
Mr. Murdoch has for long been unabashedly an archconservative and a great admirer of Republican US presidents.
Notably, he has on many occasions used his immense media power to shape the content and especially the news that furthers his interest and those of his allies, including the conservative Republicans.
Fox has been criticized for hiring people based on their political beliefs. Many of their well-known hosts are heavily involved in politics and don’t hide their opinions.
Glenn Beck, for example, besides authoring books and openly supporting Tea Party protests, started a very conservative political group called the 9.12 Project.
This group focused on religion, American values, and having a small government.
Beck further organized a political event called the Restoring Honor rally in 2010.
It talked about similar issues with a strong Christian and right-wing perspective, mixed with some strange historical references.
Who Should I believe?
In our modern age of TVs, the internet, and global connections, we have tons of information available to us.
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But even though we have so much info, it’s getting harder to figure out what’s true and trustworthy.
Furthermore, in a working democracy, it’s important that people know what’s going on so they can make good decisions.
This is where the media, especially the news, comes in. They’re like watchdogs, making sure the government is doing its job right.
However, on the ground things are different. Big companies that care a lot about making money now control a lot of the news.
Nevertheless, they’re more interested in making us entertained and happy than in giving us straight facts.
Because of this, different news outlets can tell hugely different stories, sometimes even contradicting each other.
This in turn leaves us, the public, trying to figure out who to trust. It’s not easy!
