I chose to do my paper on the mosque near Ground Zero. I thought such a sensitive subject would enable me to find the bias easier. There were definitely biases on both sides of the political spectrum. But the thing that interested me most was the divide between Liberalism and Conservatism.
I read an interesting article where a Congressman described how Republican and Democratic congressmen can be friends, play a round of golf, go fight on the senate floor about an issue and then have dinner together all the while raising children together. As students who are trying to decipher bias, we need to be aware of the motive of bias. By antagonizing and distancing sides, the media creates a base for their product. In the end it is all about viewership and news sources need viewers/buyers. By creating a greater divide then there really is, the news cements their role in the lives of those who believe what they show.
As students studying this bias, we need to be aware that often the rhetoric in which news outlets depict their news is meant to increase a divide that, relative to other countries and their political parties, is really minute.
