An article in a local newspaper, The Capital, based in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Maryland, gives a new take on the recent concurrent rallies in Washington D.C., which were held during the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous, “I Have a Dream” speech.
Bob McWilliams, the writer of the article, expresses disappointment in the reporting of news provided by The Associated Press, MSNBC, and NPR. These media organizations emphasized the skin color and political affiliation of the people attending Glenn Beck’s event, but they mentioned nothing regarding the same information in relation to Al Sharpton’s supporters. Beck was also identified as a conservative commentator, while Sharpton’s liberal slant was ignored by the three reports. Additionally, the news reports vastly underestimated the number of people attending Beck’s rally by hundreds of thousands in order to make the considerably fewer number in attendance for Sharpton seem comparable. McWilliams goes on to contend that only twenty-five percent of Americans have confidence in the news media in general, and he calls for a reversal of that trend via political diversity throughout their own ranks.
The critique raises excellent points, even though the article clearly favors the conservatives, at least in this specific instance. It might have been beneficial to point out instances where liberals experience some form of unfair media coverage in order to cover both sides equally.
McWilliams does suggest an interesting remedy in requiring political diversity throughout the ranks of the media. It could work. At the same time, forcing news stations to change the way they cover the news could seriously violate free speech. The media needs the freedom to cover the news in whatever way they want without government interference. Their check must emanate from the viewers. McWilliams asserts that the Internet is beginning to prevent the media from hoodwinking the public completely, and that is partially true. Hopefully, it will be enough to receive truthful, less biased news coverage without resorting to government influence.
The bias goes both ways....you can find evidence to support either argument by using a different source. The assumption that they reported fewer people "in order to make the..attendance for Sharpton seem comparable" is strictly opinion...this is why it's so hard for people to find truth.
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