Media Bias

My Perspective

The news that there is a new broadcast on TV to compete with other cable news networks at face value is good news. Their claim is that they will report the news without bias and to be opinion free.

The new broadcast is called News Nation and is being broadcast out of Chicago in the WGN studios. It premiered on Tuesday September 1, 2020.

I was in the newspaper business for 42 years. Over 30 of those years I served as Publisher/General Manager. I saw huge changes in the journalism part of the business over those years. News used to be reported factually and without bias. In my opinion, that has totally changed.

Again, in my opinion, most major networks NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN among others have lost their objectivity in reporting the news and they are all promoting the left Democrat agenda in politics. Most of their reporting leans very far left and in extreme cases their on-air personalities should be considered as political activist not journalist.

Fox News is trying to combat the one-sided reporting and, in the process, they are seen as promoting the right republican agenda. Fox has some legitimate anchors like Chris Wallace and Britt Hume, that do not show a bias in their reporting, but Fox also sponsors programs with program host that should be considered political activist and not journalist.

If the new News Nation broadcast keeps their word and keeps bias, and opinions out of the broadcast and stays neutral in their reporting they will serve a huge need for our country and possibly even bring back some respect for the media.

When I was Publisher of The Mining Journal in Marquette we always tried to keep bias out of local reporting. We shared opinions on the editorial page, but that is what editorial pages are supposed to do. That is why they call them opinion pages. A big part of the perception of bias related to The Mining Journal, came from the affiliation with the Associated Press.

Over the last twenty years I have seen a big change in the Associated Press. In my opinion the AP has joined all the other left leaning news agencies and focuses on reporting with a bias toward the left. In the old days you would see occasional bias on the part of news agencies. Now it is common place and because of that most people distrust media and I understand why they don’t trust media. In the past newspapers had a choice between the United Press International and the Associated Press. Once UPI went away the AP had a monopoly of sorts on the newspaper industry.

News Nation is part of the Nexstar Broadcast Group and I am glad that they are taking on this project. We need to see the news reported again absent bias. I have watched the News Nation broadcast several times and so far, they seem to be keeping their word. If they stay with that format, I can see them being very successful in the future. If they are successful, they may put pressure on the other major networks to get back on track and start reporting neutral and opinion free news.

Media plays a very important role in our country and News Nation can bring respect back to journalism if they stick with the platform they have chosen.

I don’t believe that local news broadcast show a bias in their reporting, but because of their affiliation with the networks they represent, there is in my opinion, a bias in most national news. That bias can be viewed as the local station’s platform. This is the same as local newspapers that report local news, in most cases without bias, but are viewed as being bias because of the slanted coverage by the Associated Press.

As a 42-year media veteran I want to congratulate The Nexstar Media Group and the News Nation Now broadcast for working for a return to respect in the news reporting business. It is essential to have media you can trust in securing a stronger future for our country.

I encourage everyone to watch the new broadcast and then compare it with your current news source. I believe you will see a huge difference when news is reported without a political bias driving the broadcast. News Nation will give you the facts and then you can form your own opinion without their infiltrated influence.

Until the announcement of this new undertaking I was concerned that legitimate news coverage was dead and gone for good. If News Nation is successful, it just may save media’s reputation.