How News Media Affects Our Views about America

Bully. This is what pops into the minds of foreigners when they think of American people. They see somebody who only cares for themselves and disregards the needs of other nations. Could it be due to race, religion, or petty arguments? No. Foreign powers like Japan, Germany, France, and South Africa, have admitted to it. The mainstream news is the problem. We can no longer trust the “facts” that the press spoon feeds us. The American news media distorts facts, highly skews political views, and vastly affects how foreigners see our country. How many times have you heard a rumor out in public, and went home to check to the news to figure it out? As it turns out, this may not be the best course of action. A study conducted by the Cardiff University, which studied research done by 2,000 news media sources found startling information. Out of the 2,000 sources, only 12% had actually researched the facts. Another gigantic chunk of that, 80% of the news companies had used secondhand sources to write their articles. Journalists do not check their sources thoroughly, with only 12% of the 2,000 digging deep into their “facts” to find the truth. Though, with a study finding that journalists only have 1/3 of the time to research facts than they did in 1985, can you blame them? (Davies 2008). The mainstream news media have become very comfortable with dishonest facts and unchecked sources. They will candidly take the word of a rumor or story someone tells. Politicians are aware and have taken advantage of this.
Politicians use many different techniques to sway citizens for their vote. The list is nearly endless: television, speeches, press conferences, propaganda, and the two colossal sections are news media and social networking sites. Social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook can highly skew political votes. These websites can be used for sharing and discussing political views. People who have no idea about the candidates could take their friends opinions. Due to