248248 Chapter 7 | The Mediacomes from stories they read, watch, or listen to. In part, media effects arise because
people exposed to stories that describe a particular event learn new facts as a result of
their exposure. However, some of the impact of media coverage stems not from what
such stories contain but from how they present information or even whether a story is
reported at all (see How It Works: How News Makes It to the Public ).^23Media Bias and Partisanship
Many studies have found that exposure to political coverage changes what citizens
know: at the most basic level, people who watch, read, or listen to more coverage about
politics know more than people who are exposed to less of this coverage.^24 What people
learn from the media, in turn, can shape the demands they place on politicians.^25
However, at least part of the media’s effect on people’s knowledge level arises because
of underlying interest: people who are interested in politics know more in the first place
and, because of their interest, watch more media coverage of events as they happen.
Moreover, because people can pick and choose which coverage to watch, read, or listen
to, what they learn from the media tends to reinforce their preexisting beliefs. That
is, a conservative might listen to Sean Hannity, while a liberal would opt for watching
MSNBC. Both people may learn something from the coverage, but the most likely
result is that they will only grow more certain in the opinions that they already have.^26
Finally, changes in opinion caused by media coverage are usually (but not always)
short-lived, which is consistent with our discussion in Chapter 6.
Given this evidence on media effects, one of the central questions is whether
reporters and editors have a discernable bias: That is, do their decisions about which
events to report on and how they report on them reflect a conscious effort to shape
public opinion in a liberal, conservative, or other direction? Surveys of the American
electorate have found a hostile media effect: regardless of respondents’ partisan
leanings, they believe that the media favor candidates and ideas from the other party.^27
Conservative critics of the media point to surveys that show that most reporters
identify themselves as liberals. Liberal critics respond that most pundits, especially on
talk radio, offer conservative points of view—and many media sources are owned by
large corporations, which could lead to underreporting of some stories, such as those
offering a favorable portrayal of labor unions.^28
Questions about media bias have become more urgent since the election of Donald
Trump, who has criticized the media for reporting what he terms “fake news.” Trump
even claimed, in a February 2017 tweet, that the press is “the enemy of the American
people.” Sometimes Trump uses the “fake news” label for stories he finds misleading
or inaccurate, such as polls during the 2016 campaign that showed him behind Hillary
Clinton. The deeper message of the “fake news” label is that Trump believes that media
coverage of his presidency cannot be trusted because reporters and their editors simply
dislike him and his supporters.
It is easy to find examples of outright mistakes by reporters and their editors
that suggest some sort of overt bias in coverage. For example, in December 2017 the
Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel posted pictures on Twitter showing large
numbers of empty seats at a Trump rally. However, the pictures were taken before
the start of the rally; by the time it actually began, the stadium was full. After Trump
complained on Twitter, Weigel apologized and published pictures showing that all
the seats were taken. Similarly, as we describe in Chapter 9 most polls taken during
the 2016 campaign failed to predict Donald Trump’s victory. However, while Trump
and others may have seen this as evidence of a bias against him, the polls were actually
largely accurate. These same polls accurately predicted the popular vote totals; wheremedia effects
The influence of media coverage
on average citizens’ opinions and
actions.hostile media effect
The tendency of people to see neutral
media coverage of an event as biased
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