Hit And Run

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2012/10/09/dnt-surveillance-video-man-hit-by-car.wsoc.html

                Although short, this video clearly shows two types of bias. The first one being temporal bias and the second being bad news bias. Although it is an interesting story is has no real impact on anyone besides those involved. The only purpose it served was to showcase a new story that had arisen rather than something everyone should know.  Since it is a new story and had some entertainment value (not saying it is funny, merely that it held my interest), it made it into the news. I find that the implications of news always having to be about whatever happens to be the most interesting and new story leads to news being more and more about finding the newest and best thing to cover rather than informing the people about topics that actually matter. It isn’t that getting hit by a car doesn’t matter, just that the nation as a whole will not be affected by this one incident.

                This story also depicts bad news bias. A man got hit by a car and the driver drove away. It is most certainly not a good thing for this to occur and is thus bad news. Unfortunately good news doesn’t tell a good story. If you heard about someone who was doing great in school and didn’t have any family issues, you wouldn’t be very interested in hearing the story. On the other hand, if you hear about a girl who is suicidal because she is failing all her classes and her parents are getting divorced, you would be more interested in the story. This is because the story appeals to pity and you feel bad for said person and you want to help them. Those are the stories that sell and get high rating, so that is what is put on the air. Since so much bad news is published it makes the viewers think the world is a much darker place than it really is, but that is just how the system works.

-Codie Rome 335

Rhetorical Analysis on Media Bias

I searched for a news item on CBS.com thinking there would be a very interesting video that would catch my eye on there. The video I have chosen talks about how the supreme court is taking on a big case of affirmative action. A girl was not accepted to her dream school because of her race. I'm honestly glad that this is getting so much attention from the public and from our government. I believe this could be called as a bad news bias. This really could affect a lot of people and their education. This whole situation is kind of appalling to even wrap your head around. If I wanted to go to a major university but was unable to because of my race, I would be very offended and very  upset. But I would be even more self motivated to get this out into the public so something could be done about this very ridiculous act upon future students.
The video also I believe has a Status Quo bias. The media sometimes believes whatever the government says, and that they are unable to change anything. This girl was a very brave and daring girl to share her story with the public about how the University would not let her in because of her race. I mean lets get real who would not be upset about this issue? Fisher was a very intelligent girl and compared to  her other friends and classmates that were getting into the school over her, she was tested better and was also in more activities than them. Her skin color was the deciding factor. I'm so glad the government is actually trying to do something about this. Overall this video is getting a lot of publicity and the government seems to be doing something about it. Lets all give it up for this girl for doing something about it!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57529863/supreme-court-scrutinizes-universitys-use-of-race-in-admissions/?tag=flyOutNavigation;flyoutlead1

Media Bias

When I first watched this video two bias immediately came to mind, bad news bias and narrative bias. Obviously it is bad news bias because this video is all about how the airport failed to follow the rules while doing their job. At the end of the video is does say that the reason she had this interview done was for a positive purpose, to save others from embarrassment, but to me it is still bad news. I believe that if the airport had followed the rules correctly, no one would ever hear about this. The news cast is only interesting because it is negative. Also, the main person that this news cast is about, has cancer and is soon going to be dying which also sets a negative tone for the bad news bias. I think this kind of goes hand and hand with the other bias I chose.

Which would be narrative bias. The reason I chose this as my second bias about my video is because the whole story is based on the narrator, which is the sick woman. It has a beginning, a middle and a end. The beginning being they women calling ahead, the middle being her actual trip to the airport, and the end being her message. I think that when the video talks about the airports rules and what they are supposed to be, this shows "competing experts or officials". Notice how the news cast goes into detail about what the airport did wrong, but not what the women herself did, besides when she asked to be searched privately. I think this news cast also has a clear cause and effect, which is another part of the narrative bias. When the airport unfairly checks the women would be the cause of this video, and others knowing about this airport in particular not following the rules would be the effect. People may stop using this airport due to her story.

-Karah
wordcount 326

Media Bias-JF

On Monday, October 9, 2012, ABC mews published a story regarding professional football player Eric Winston’s words against the fan’s in his own city. Although this story contains many of Cline’s biases, I think the one that is the most obvious is the temporal bias. The temporal bias essentially says that whatever is new and notable is, “news”. I am quite a passionate fan of the National Football League and its games, but I honestly don’t consider this story to be newsworthy on a national news network. The story is that home fans for the Kansas City Chiefs cheered an injury of their own player, Matt, Cassel, and a different player, Eric Winston, stepped up to defend the injured player. This issue is certainly notable, but it is not newsworthy. I don’t see how this story is crucial or notable among other stories regarding the future of the country, those in need, or significant tragedies.

 

Other than the temporal bias, the bias that is apparent is the bad news bias. The bad news bias basically states that good news is not interesting, therefore bad news is better to report. This is clearly bad news. If an NFL player told media reporters in a press conference that he loved his fans, the story would not make it on a national news network. The implications of these biases are more geared toward showing negativity surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs’ franchise. Many other football related websites and television networks will agree that the Kansas City Chiefs franchise is an organization with many people in danger of getting fired due to poor performance and preparation. Perhaps that’s why this story is present on a national news website. The temporal and bad news biases are sneakily used in this story to show the dismay in the Kansas City Chiefs football franchise.

Word Count: 306

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/10/kc-chiefs-eric-winston-rips-fans-cheering-qb-injury/

Media Bias

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/peanut-butter-recall-mexico-company-expands-recall-salmonella-17373670?tab=9482931&section=1206834&playlist=1363932

                Recently there has been an outbreak of salmonella poisoning. The news video I found over the issue was at ABC. The salmonella outbreak has caused over 101 peanut butter products to be recalled and most people who were affected were under the age of 10. The news video is a “visual bias” because during the news clip it shows different scenes with peanut butter in it. With the video showing these scenes it gives an image to what is causing the outbreak and what to blame. Also, on the bottom of the screen during the video, there is banner which says “peanut butter recall spreads; are your children at risk?” With the media having this saying at the bottom of the screen throughout the whole video has the viewers’ reading it over and over again until they are worried about whether it is true or not. Another visual bias from the video clip is when it shows a picture listing that 30 cases have been reported in 19 states and that the people most affected by this outbreak were under the age of 10. By the news company putting this picture into the clip it shows the effects of the outbreak quickly, drawing the viewer into the story to see what is going on.

                The video is also another type of bias called “bad news bias.” The video says children under the age of 10 were affected. Most people only the watch the news to hear about the bad things going on in the world because they are more interesting than good news stories. With the bad news that children are being affected it causes more viewers to watch to see what is going on for example parents. Also, when the video mentions that over 101 peanut butter products are being recalled and the news reporter mentions that it made her want to throw out all of the items in her kitchen that contained peanut butter, it overdramatized the situation and made it appear worse than what it was. Those comments made it seem that every single thing that contained peanut butter was going to give you salmonella poisoning when that is not the case. Also, when the video talked about all the symptoms a person could have from salmonella poisoning, it makes people who have the flu or a simple cold think they have it.  This video clip overdramatized the situation to make it appear worse than what it was to get more viewers to watch the show.  

-Megan Grimes (419)

Rhetorical Analysis on Media Bias

            The news story I decided to write was covered by CNN, and it had to do with contaminated vaccines coming out of a building that is built right by a garbage dump. The story makes good use of “bad news bias.” The reason why this is getting so much publicity is because of the shock factor it has. This is a problem that could potentially affect many people. 11 are dead, 119 are sick, and 13,000 people may have gotten a bad vaccination. This is obviously a major problem. When the government is putting out vaccinations to help people and it ends up killing them, it is never a good day. This makes for a good story. People thrive off of drama and this being a big story of something bad going on, it is going to attract a lot of attention. News stories like this can also cause a panic; because it is going to make people who may have received a vaccination recently fear they might get something wrong with them. When people are worried about something they tell others, in this case this news story. Stories like this cause a domino effect of people talking about it and telling others about it.

            It starts off with a reporter going to the scene of the incident. He goes there just trying to get some information and figure out why this happened. He travels to Massachusetts to the building this all went down to talk to a representative. After he asks why this all happened, the man replies by telling him he has to leave. This creates more drama and fire to the story. It leaves you asking, why didn’t they respond? What did they have to say? What do they know that I don’t? Another bias present in this story is the “temporal bias.” This is all recent stuff and they are trying to find out what happened because nobody knows what has happened yet. This creates a sense of urgency in the story. It makes it all seem more real because of it happening so recent and shows the reporter actually traveling to the scene. This particular story will most likely have updates that will be on the news in weeks to come. Overall, the way they covered this story was very intense and dramatic and makes the world out to be a scary, dangerous place, which is pretty much is. (405 words)

Media Bias

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57526640/howard-dean-romney-has-no-core-belief/?tag=showDoorFlexGridLeft;flexGridModule

     When I think of the word bias the first thing that comes to my mind is politics, and with the election coming up I thought it would be a good topic to write about. I found an article written by Lindsey Boerma which analyzes an interview about the recent debate. Over all this video gives multiple examples of bias, but the one I found most common was the fairness bias. Former Vermont governor and Democratic National Chair Howard Dean was asked by CBS what he thought of the debate. Dean says that he feels that president Obama did well but he wasn’t prepared for the aggressive side of Romney. Dean continues to discuss how Obama can improve and addresses the fact that Obama will remain in proper etiquette because he has to appear presidential. Dean remained fair by critiquing both of the presidential candidates. He spoke more in favor of president Obama, and minimally discussed Romney or how he can improve. When another reporter asks Dean how he feels about Obama raising taxes he gets mad and says that Obama and Biden have been saying that they would raise taxes on the wealthy for a year. Dean then adds himself into the equation saying that people accused him of things when he was running for president in 2004.

   Upon watching this video one of the first things I noticed was the fact that Dean was not only a democratic chair, but ran as a democratic candidate in 2004. It’s clear from the very beginning that Dean was going to sway towards president Obama. Dean compliments Romney in the debate saying that he was aggressive, but overall he calls the debate a tie. He says that Obama is too presidential to call Romney a liar and says that he wouldn’t do so in the next debate. Dean believes that Romney will say anything to become president even if that means changing his opinion on issues every week. He also says that Obama is more restricted than Romney because of his presidential status, so he can’t say all that he would like but Dean argues that Obama should call Romney out on his ever changing opinions on certain policies. I think that Dean is clearly biased towards Obama, I feel that the fact that he is on the Democratic Chair has a lot to do with his bias, but he also seems to have a strong personal opinion against Romney.  

(408 Words)