In: Economics
Does the media have an ideological bias? How does the existence of the Internet affect media bias?
Ideological bias in the media refers to decisions by journalists and editorial staff to shape the selection and the presentation of news events and stories to suit specific political opinions. Media ideological bias does exist because the networks only show audiences what that they really want to show.
The increase of the internet helps news information to become more readily available, and people can receive news 24-hours a day at no or little cost. In turn, people are flooded with information from news channels and online websites, apps, podcasts, blogs, social media. Because of internet the consumers can watch news, more than ever before, self-select into news markets that are fit according to their political beliefs and be assured the news they receive from such sources confirm such beliefs. Consequently a person owns perceptions of bias can certainly be a factor when perceiving media bias.