Written By: Nate Frontiero
(Biden speaking at a press conference last week abc7ny.com/post/joe-biden-press-conference-live-president-deliver-remarks/14895918/)
As the 2024 election draws near, the two candidates are constantly in the news. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have all of the public eye on them. Anything that they say or do is going to be heavily examined and scrutinized. America has many major news networks, and their coverage and opinion of Biden often depends on if their network is left or right wing. This has caused some bias from these networks on their Biden coverage.
Media bias is defined as “The tendency of news media to report in a way that reinforces a viewpoint, worldview, preference, political ideology, corporate or financial interests, moral framework, or policy inclination, instead of reporting in an objective way.” (Mastrine, 2022) We see this often from networks. Many times, these networks do not even try to hide this bias.
For example, NBC and their media coverage is often seen as favoring the democrats and the left. After an appearance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, it was said that Fallon “did his job for Biden, which was to offer the president a friendly national platform without challenging him in any capacity.” (Concha, 2021) Fallon even said to Biden “You gotta keep your head down and keep doing the right thing, while adding that he’s “bringing class back to the presidency.”(Concha, 2021) Additionally, CNN reports that liberals “are angry that the NY times is biased towards Trump and harsh on Biden.” (Hays, 2024) However, this report came from a Fox News article.
This just goes to show some of the glaring bias that has been pointed out in our media landscape. Fox news writing an article that says CNN claims liberals are upset with NY times media coverage of Biden shows you that not only does CNN have a left wing bias, but that Fox also has a bias towards the right wing. It is also clearly evident with the way that these and other networks structure their articles and content that there is a clear bias.
A perfect example of this is the Ukraine situation. Fox is often critical of Biden for giving them aid; even going as far as having a disgruntled farmer on the show who says it is a disgrace Ukraine gets money from America as “we are facing extinction.” (Miller, 2024) On the other hand, CNN often voices their pleasure with Biden on this topic, even titling an article “Biden signs foreign aid bill providing crucial military assistance to Ukraine.” (Williams et al., 2024)
Another good example to look at would be the border crisis. A CNN article was titled “Biden seizes on tougher border measures as he tries to fend off Trump attacks”. (Alvarez, 2024) Another NBC article was titled “Senate Republicans block Biden security bill as they campaign on border chaos.” (Kapur & Santaliz, 2024) These are pro Biden, as opposed to Fox News saying on the SAME topic that “Biden enforced over 60 executive orders to make the border crisis worse”, (Co, 2024) and the NY post saying “Biden alone owns the border crisis — and the chaos it’s caused.” (Post, 2024)
It is apparent that Biden gets different coverage from different networks on the same issue. It is also clear that media bias is a real thing. Whether you are a network that is catering to the left-wing or the right wing, you are going to write what fits into your audience. There are many ways to determine which network will give you what kind of content. From there, you can make an informed decision for yourself to determine where you get your news on politics and Biden.
(A chart outlining the different networks and the extent of their media bias www.allsides.com/media-bias)
The image above shows each major network and how biased they are in their coverage. Dark blue L means they are left wing, light blue L means that they only lean left. C is center or neutral and the dark red r means right wing, while the light red r means that they only lean right.
I would say that news networks show their bias either through excessive praise or excessive slander. I also think that the way they title certain news articles and TV segments also heavily tie into this. They are often time very dramatic, with words and phrases meant to rile up a certain fan base and add emphasis to the point they want to get across. It becomes an overall theme in all of their content and bodies of work. This is something you should always be aware of when consuming media.
In conclusion, media bias is something that we see around the world on every topic. However, it seems worse when it comes to the political aspect of the media and journalism world. It is safe to say that Joe Biden is hoping that favorable media coverage from left wing networks will give him a much needed boost at the polls this coming November.
Works Cited
Alvarez, P. (2024, January 27). Biden seizes on tougher border measures as he tries to fend off Trump attacks | CNN politics. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/27/politics/biden-border-shut-down-us-mexico-immigration/index.html
Board, P. E. (2024a, February 17). Biden alone owns the border crisis – and the chaos it’s caused. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2024/02/17/us-news/biden-alone-owns-the-border-crisis-and-the-chaos-its-caused/
Co, V. (2024, May 8). Biden enforced over 60 executive orders to make the border crisis worse: Rep. young Kim: Fox Business Video. Fox Business. https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6352539972112
Hays, G. (2024, March 8). CNN reports Liberals “angry” that NY Times is biased towards Trump, harsh on Biden: “shameful.” Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-reports-liberals-angry-ny-times-biased-trump-harsh-biden-shameful
Joe Concha, O. C. (2021b, December 12). Amid multiple crises, Biden runs to NBC’s safe space with Jimmy Fallon. The Hill. https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/585465-amid-multiple-crises-biden-runs-to-nbcs-safe-space-with-jimmy-fallon/
Julie Mastrine media bias rating. AllSides. (2024, February 8). https://www.allsides.com/news-source/julie-mastrine-media-bias
Kapur, S., & Santaliz, K. (2024, May 23). Senate Republicans block border security bill as they campaign on Border Chaos. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-republicans-block-border-security-bill-campaign-border-chaos-rcna153607
Miller, A. M. (2024, February 18). 4th gen farmer blasts biden admin for sending billions to Ukraine as US farmers suffer: “facing extinction.” Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/4th-gen-farmer-blasts-biden-admin-for-sending-billions-to-ukraine-as-u-s-farmers-suffer-facing-extinction
Williams, M., Saenz, A., & Liptak, K. (2024, April 30). Biden signs foreign aid Bill providing crucial military assistance to Ukraine | CNN politics. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/biden-signs-foreign-aid-bill/index.html