Objectivity in the Media

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the problems of objectivity and bias in the media. It claims that the media cannot live up to the journalistic ideal of objectivity, for every news story is influenced by the attitudes and background of its interviewers, writers, photographers and editors. The paper contends that major newspapers and television networks are biased according to their political affiliations and attempt to influence their audiences to subscribe to their views. The paper concludes that the media is no more than a form of propaganda and a cancer inside of the public.

From the Paper:

"The media most clearly acts on their political party "affiliation." The main contenders for this are Fox News and the New York Times. The most recent evidence of this is concerning a website release of Iraqi nuclear documents. In an article published by the New York Times on November 3, Journalist William Broad writes, "American government shuts down Web site that weapons experts say offer basic guide to building atom bomb, pending review; site gives detailed accounts of Iraq's secret nuclear research before 1991 Persian Gulf war... hoping to leverage the Internet to find new evidence of prewar dangers posed to Saddam Hussein" (Broad)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Auken, Lorie, and Mindy Kleinberg. "Iraq's Nuclear Data, For All to See." The New York Times 6 Nov. 2006. 7 Nov. 2006 <http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F40F15FD3A5B0C758CDDA80994DE404482>.
• Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. All The President's Men. New York, NY: Warner Paperback Library, 1975.
• Broad, William. "The Struggle For Iraq; US Web Archive is Said to Reveal Nuclear Primer." The New Yortk Times 3 Nov. 2006, Late Edition ed. 8 Nov. 2006 <http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50917FD3B5B0C708CDDA80994DE404482>.
• "GOP Rep. Faults White House on Iraq Site." Fox News 5 Nov. 2006. 7 Nov. 2006 <http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2006Nov05/0,4675,IraqDocuments,00.html>.
• "GOP Rep. Faults White House on Iraq Site." The New York Times 5 Nov. 2006. 8 Nov. 2006 <http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Iraq-Documents.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>.

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