Media Bias

There are particular media outlets that are either consider “liberal” or “conservative” within political communication. Many have different opinions on what each media outlet is considered, just like within this case of finding media stories given about Jeb Bush, which is where I believe MSNBC is “liberal” and FOX News is more leaning towards the “conservative” side. Although each of the stories I choose are different, you can clearly see how each media outlet portrays Jeb Bush differently because of their biases.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/jeb-bush-says-he-wont-disparage-likely-rival-marco-rubio

“Jeb Bush says he won’t ‘disparage’ likely rival Marco Rubio” was the media story I found within MSNBC, or what I consider one of the “liberal” outlets. Within this story Jeb is portrayed as very sportsman-like to other candidates, but also weak and incompetent because he seems like he can’t fight back and also does not have the ability to answer major issues going on, which was elaborated on at the end of the story. The research I have done thus far, the fact that Jeb may avoid an issue such as immigration, may be accurate, but he is not afraid to address other issues, as we have seen in his time as governor of Florida. It was generous of MSNBC to give Jeb the benefit of the doubt in thinking that he will not disparage other candidates, but also unfair to imply ideas that he is weak or incompetent.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/04/13/five-reasons-why-florida-matters-lot-in-2016/

The story I found on FOX News, or what I consider a “conservative” outlet was, “Five reasons why Florida matter (a lot) in 2016”. Jeb is portrayed as this more than competent and well-rounded individual within this story. Since I consider FOX “conservative”, it makes sense that they would be overly generous, or bias, towards him through this media story. It seems accurate that Florida is diverse ethnically, popular for international trade and foreign policy, and was a feat for Jeb to be apart of during his terms as governor, based on what I have researched thus far. It is more than generous when it explicitly states that Jeb successfully governed Florida during the full eight years, because not everything he did had a great reaction from some Floridians. It is unfair that this story though only highlights what he has been successful at, especially including Florida, and unfairly hides Jeb’s stances on issues that differ from other conservatives.

If one were only to see that MSNBC story, then they would only know about faults Jeb has and his successes would be concealed to those readers. On the other hand one would only see the good aspects of Jeb Bush and no nothing about his failures, after reading the FOX News media story. Although most people only identify with conservative or liberal, and sometimes neither, I believe it is still important to strategically and wisely read media stories from various outlets, so one can avoid media biases and have all the facts when making a major decision in 2016.