There are accusations towards the media implying media bias through source selection. It has become common today to dismiss media as bias through source selection. Source selection is choosing certain sources or information that is in favor of one side or the other to promote the news anchor’s personal agenda. News anchors want a certain side to win over the other and have a personal belief or opinion of their own; therefore, he or she picks the sources that agree with his or her arguments because that’s what he or she wants promoted. source selection has a way of twisting a story to back up their points. In the article, “Falling Prey to a Story That’s Too Good To Check” by Rem Rieder states, “In a terrific piece of work last Friday, Brent Bambury, host of the program Day 6 on Canada's CBC Radio, grilled Lisa Tozzi, BuzzFeed's news director, on how the story came to be that the phony airplane clash made the website” (Rieder par.10). Common sense seems to dictate that during this moment in the article, Rieder was discussing an occasion when a news anchor asked tough questions and wanted to know if the answers good or bad, regardless of their personal feelings on the matter. Rieder also discusses an incident where a news anchor did not care who the individual was but was determined to figure the truth out (Reider par. 10). Reider was trying to present that the media does its best to ask any source the questions wanted answered by the American people. The news network is attempting to show the American people different situations, showing the media is asking individuals the questions that needs to be asked, no matter the news anchors personal feelings. Although, there are those who still do not believe this and claim the media shows bias through source selection.
Counter Argument:
The counterclaim from the opposing viewers was the media does indeed show bias reporting through source selection. Conservative Americans today tend to believe that the media does pick certain individual sources that agree with their personal beliefs and will give the answers the news anchor wants to hear. There are many accusations towards the unfairness in the media and the way the news is broadcasted. The media has displayed in the past that they have chosen the source in context because they include the information wanted to be known by America. For example, in the article,“Dear Mainstream Media: Why So Liberal” by Erik Wemple states, “The New York Times wants greater diversity in its newsroom ranks. It even has a diverse set of areas in which it's striving for greater diversity” (Wemple par. 1). Wemple was discussing how The New York Times tries to incorporate diversity as possible within the studio. The New York Times wants to get as many different views and ideas as possible, therefore, they are asking different questions to varying people to cover both sides of the story. In addition, the article “Fake News Is a Real Pawn in Claims of Media Bias” by Michael Wolff states, “In this, fake news becomes part of a broader conspiracy theory of unseen forces manipulating a gullible public” (par. 1). Wolff is discussing how the media manipulates people and talks to certain individuals they want to get the information they want, and how the American people are highly gullible. The media is picking people to talk to and the stories to tell, which is causing Americans to not know the whole truth. Onto a bigger issue, the media bias by source is not even the end of it, there are more ways of bias in the media including influential media bias. As well as bias by source selection, there is bias by influential individuals on the media.