Media hold a privileged place in American society. They are central to the operation of our democracy and have great influence over the way we live our lives. The news that is chosen and the way it is depicted control how we perceive and learn about each other, both within our country and among the rest of the world. Unfortunately, it is impossible to deny that bias exists in the media and drastically alters public perception of current events. However, the presence of bias both in media and among the public is often unintentional. While bias may always exist to some extent, these biases are not detrimental to the well-being of our society if a free “Marketplace of Ideas” is supported and encouraged.
Though my roommate is correct in saying that journalists may exhibit bias in their writing, bias often exists unintentionally, even when means are taken to prevent it. Media scholars have deemed this the “Theory of Unintended News Distortion”. As Herbert Gans describes in Deciding What’s News, “As long as their intent is to exclude conscious personal values, then opinions become ‘subjective reactions’ which follow from objectively …show more content…
For example, when people can express their opinions openly, they bypass the need to take their ideas underground or start chaotic revolutions. Thus, he argues, the public must take the negative aspects of free press with the good, for the sake of a more stable society. When “the people” govern, the press can circulate facts and people can develop their own opinions. What Mill deemed the “Marketplace of Ideas”, Tocqueville calls “the tribunal of public opinion”. While Tocqueville acknowledges the possible dangers of media bias, he states that the true threat is not in these misrepresentations but in the prohibition of open