We have recently been listening to (and giving) presentations about media bias when certain media sources discuss specific issues. A wide variety of issues have been brought up, from the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other Middle-East issues to health care reform and the global warming issue. Many of us actually used the same sources, perhaps even the same articles and videos. It is therefore surprising that a few people who worked on the same issue had different or at least slightly different conclusions.
Despite the discrepancies, it seems (to me at least) that most of us found at least a slight leaning if not bias toward one side or another. As one would expect, certain sources tended to have more of this bias or leaning than others. Surprisingly enough though, those same, customarily biased or at least non-objective, sources seemed to be more objective about certain topics, such as global warming. Perhaps this shows us something about the nature of bias: it definitely exists, though its extent depends on the topic at hand and can therefore vary from minimal to fully prevalent in media coverage.
This observation is somewhat understandable, if we think about it for a minute we would realize that all of us feel strongly (in positive or negative ways) about at least a couple of issues and would likely discuss them in a way that supports our own views. Based on this observation, I believe most of us can agree that media bias, however prevalent it is, tends to be found more often when reporters, journalists, and anchors are writing or discussing issues that that they feel emotionally attached to. Not only should we try to read or view as many sources as are reasonable in order to get the whole picture, but we should keep in mind the possibility that the author or anchor's reporting may be influenced by his or her personal opinions, particularly in regard to controversial or debated topics.
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