Blog Post #2:You and the World-U.S Media Bias

Hello my name is Tomas Arango and I am a ninth grader at Science Leadership Academy, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If you have read my last Blog Post, I am doing a project on media bias in the United States of America. In my last blog post, I focused on the different types of media bias and some places and things it has affected the most. I mentioned media bias in the Middle East and it’s negative effect on Islam. In this blog post I will be talking original research I have conducted and the results I got.

I created a survey and sent it out through email and social media websites. The survey was focused on how many people actually notice media bias where they notice it. I wrote questions such as peoples age, if they watch the news and how frequently, what sources they get their news from, and if they've noticed U.S media bias. So far many people have answered my survey with great responses that have helped my understanding on the topic.

As you can see the majority of the people were ninth through twelve graders.

The majority of the people who took the survey watch the news frequently, and mostly listen to public radio or watch CNN.

The majority of the people who answered the question ''What news origination do you notice media bias the most from?'', answered Fox news. But the question that was most important to me ''What types of media bias have you noticed?, had some impressive results.

The most popular response on the question above was ''One sided stories''. I totally agree with the responses because it's something I notice a lot and bothers me. One sided stories can change many peoples views on certain countries and make bad impressions. For example a lot of the times when you hear something about a country in the Middle East it's usually something bad, and only the bad side of the story is told. News organizations don't usually talk about the good things that happen in the countries that are known for being bad. In my opinion I feel that all the listed types of media bias show up all the time, and cause a huge impact on we view other countries, how other countries view us, and how we are informed about the issues of the world.

My original research has helped me understand my topic much better. It showed me who watches the news and who doesn't and what people have noticed when it comes to U.S media bias. I agree with a lot of the responses and want to help kids in my school get a better idea and perspective on U.S media bias, and the issues that come along with it. I hope that once I'm done with this project me and my peers will be more aware of the issue and will be willing to teach others about it.

For the next part of this project called Agent of Change we are required to go out into the world or our community. I am planning on creating an interactive activity for my advisory. Not everyone watches the news in my advisory, but know media bias exists, so I want to talk about who it affects and the many kinds of media bias, also help them not fall into to the medias many traps.  

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog, and make sure to stay tuned for blog #3!

Here's my bibliography!