Media Bias Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media Bias - Research Paper Example The first step in challenging biased news coverage is documenting bias. Here are some questions to ask yourself about newspaper, TV and radio news (Thiere 50). Political coverage often focuses on how issues affect politicians or corporate executives rather than those directly affected by the issue. For example, many stories on parental notification of abortion emphasized the "tough choice" confronting male politicians while quoting no women under 18--those with the most at stake in the debate. Economics coverage usually looks at how events impact stockholders rather than workers or consumers (Thiere 50). [The bias] is not the result of a vast left-wing conspiracy [there is] an unconscious â€Å"groupthink† mentality that taints news coverage and allows only one side of a debate to receive a fair hearing. When that happens, the truth suffers. A reporter’s job is to present a balanced story. As you read, listen to and watch news stories, you probably already notice stories that you think are biased. To see if they really are biased, you need to determine if the story falls into at least one of the several forms in which bias oc curs (Fahri). There are several types of bias. To start with is bias by omission: For every news story that is selected, there are many others that are left out. Do the news stories you see show a balanced view of real life? What are the characteristics they have in common? (e.g., are they mostly about violence, famous people, and wealth?) Do some news sources include items that are ignored by others? (Fahri) The other form of bias is bias by emphasis: What stories are on the front page or â€Å"at the top of the hour?† Which stories get the largest headlines or the first and longest coverage on TV or radio? Consider how this placement influences people’s sense of what is important. Bias by use of languages when the use of labels such as â€Å"terrorist,† â€Å"revolutionary,† or â€Å"freedom fighter†

World War I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

World War I - Essay Example Since Germany and Austria wanted a quick attack on Serbia, so that other countries would not get involved, an ultimatum was sent. When the ultimatum was sent to Serbia in July 23, 1914, which demanded Serbia to abolish all 'anti-Austrian activities', and allow Austria to investigate the assassination of Francis Ferdinand. Serbia accepted to the ultimatum, but did not allow Austria to investigate the murder. This caused Austria to declare war on Serbia on July 28. When Austria attacked Serbia, as the German leaders had anticipated, Russia prepared to attack Austria. Germany warned Russia to stop the preparation, but because Russia did not listen, Germany attacked Russia on August 1. Two days later, Germany also declared war against France, which was Russia's ally. Germany planned to invade France through Belgium, but unfortunately, Belgium refused this. On August 3, Germany invaded Belgium. The British then became involved in the war, for they had promised Belgium could be neutral, and not get involved in wars.1 In addition, the British had to join in the war because if they did not, Germany would control the continent of Europe. In less than six weeks, the domino effect had caused Serbia, Russia, France, Belgium and Britain to fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary. The WW1 fi... The WW1 finally broke out in June1914 because of an accident in Bosnia. It was the Sarajevo incident, the immediate cause of WW1. It took place on June 28, 1914. On that day, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife were shot dead by a young Serbian student at Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. Austria considered the murder of the heir to the throne an open Serbian attack.2 Austria would be left without an heir. Although she could not find any evidence that the Serbian government was connected with the assassination, Austria still declared war on Serbia. Within two month, the war became a world war. Finally, the war ended in 1918. The Central Power included Germany had lost. The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918 and was called The Great War or the war to end all wars until World War II started. Some scholars believe that the First World War was simply the first phase of a 30-year-long war that entailed the period of 1914 to 1945. The outbreak of the clash is often ascribed to the European alliances. Germany-Austria-Italy formed an alliance against France-Russia; Britain and Serbia supported France and Russia. In fact, none of the alliances was initiated in the early outbreak, though Russian general mobilization and Germany's declaration of war against France were motivated by fear of the opposing alliance being brought into play. By 1882, Germany was allied with Austra-Hungary and Italy, in an alliance called the Triple Alliance. Then, in 1887, they signed the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. Thus, Germany was allied with three major European nations and France was left isolated. In 1890, the German Kaiser set out to make Germany a major world power. He aimed to increase the number of Germany's overseas colonies.3 To do