Week 10 Discussion: The Media

Please choose one of the following questions and react to it briefly in the discussion boards.

Discussion question options:

To what extent do you think media bias is a problem in the way political events are covered in the news? Do you think the press should become more explicitly partisan? Why or why not?

President Trump frequently derided unfavorable coverage of his administration as “fake news” and stated that the mainstream media are “the enemy of the American people.” Why did the President Trump taken this unprecedented approach to the media? What was his objective? What impact do you think this had on the freedom of the press in our democracy?

What role should social media companies play in censoring/verifying political speech on their platforms? What should these regulations look like? What are the costs of allowing any speech to be published? What are the costs of heavily regulating speech?

Week 10 Discussion: The Media Answer

The media bias is a problem in the way that political events are covered in the news because mass media play a crucial role in issue framing or the process through which relevant considerations are identified to influence how an individual thinks about the issue. This means that media coverage makes an issue relevant (or irrelevant). It influences our choices and can even distort public perceptions of political problems.