I agree with John on this subject very much so, I too am a young registered Republican. I feel as an educated young person I have the
right to have my opinion and that is the great part about this country. And I too feel the same being a Republican is
very frowned upon in society and the way the media portrays it is very
biased. The media makes me think that my
opinion is so wrong because I "judge people", "don’t care about
the less fortunate", and "how can you be Catholic and be republican,
you aren't following the teachings of Jesus". And all of these are strong misconceptions,
people who are Republicans don’t hate people, we just think that you should
work for what you want, and the harder you work the more successful you will
be. I get very offended when people say
these things about me, because I am not a judgmental person. I think you can do whatever you want but you
do not need to force your opinion on others let everyone think what they want
to think it is your right to be entitled to your opinion.
So John I think people think it is "so wrong to be
right" because people get very offended and sensitive about the issues
that are brought up in this argument.
And the people who think this are scared that they will be persecuted
about the way they live their lives, so they feel they must protect
themselves. The way they protect
themselves is trying to ridicule and make the other side of the issue be so
frowned upon, and the media always portrays this side of the issue in such a
bad light. So the media needs to stop
producing biased news which is a very hard thing to do and I don’t think any
news sources are completely unbiased, and that is where you need to educate the
viewer to look at both sides and figure out what is the real truth about what
happened.
It definitely seems to me that the right feels more misrepresented than the left. Of course, both sides like to claim bias. The left will claim, by contrast, that it's not even represented at all, that the entire political debate is structured like Hannity and Colmes: there's a token liberal whose views aren't all that left-wing, in order to exclude voices more to the left. Definitely, though, the more frequent refrain in media is a charge of liberal bias: but does this charge reflect reality? Or, by contrast, is the media claiming liberal bias because it is ultimately reflects the conservative narrative? Both are plausible explanations.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that most mainstream media is frequently "charging" itself with liberal bias... Certainly the majority of news outlets would be said to lean more so to the left than right (which surely they know), but it's not something people usually take time to address in the midst of reporting the news. It's an established narrative, one that even Fox News and conservatives don't need to touch on, beyond using political buzzwords to remind you of who you should be wary: "the liberal media" or "the lamestream media," or even just "the media," if said with sufficient distain.
DeleteI certainly agree that the right feels more misrepresented--evidently that's increasing as a theme in its rhetoric. But I'm unsure whether it's in response to any gross misrepresentations in particular, since blatant attacks on the Republic Party and its members appear fairly rare in serious news media. It's not like everyone is splicing together selective soundbites, a la Jon Stewart, that we may laugh at the hilarity of Republicans' bigotry.
"charge" is the wrong word. As you point out, there is simply a general perception that the media is biased liberally. But, I simply ask: if the media were liberally biased, wouldn't the established narrative reflect that by claiming conservative bias?
DeleteI was trying to get across that especially as a young person it is looked down upon for being a republican. Many young republicans get accused of just voting republicans because there parents do. It is like we can not make our own decision. We are viewed as uneducated and privileged but that is not true. We are very educated especially when knowing who will help our economy the most. We are not necessarily privileged either we just want to become successful one day. I just don't understand why this is wrong?
ReplyDeleteRJ is obviously not shy about how he feels on a subject. I side with you on this topic and can relate some feelings of frustration of people hearing what I say but not understanding it. Through some of my own experiences and interactions, I have seen a great deal of this. I never actually experienced extreme bias, but just a large misrepresentation of conservative values. Whenever politics has reared its ugly head in a conversation and my conservative cat comes out the bag, I listen to opinions of how people do not agree with a party who doesn’t believe in women’s rights, only cares about the rich, and does not have single care about the poor or the environment. It usually follows with my counter of how politics fits into my religious worldview, how I feel convicted for poor and hurting people, and my wish to be a missionary. In turn, this will promise me no material wealth. I think women are just as important as men, but think they, along with the country as a whole, should be accountable and hard working as I expect us all to be. Additionally, I along with many other conservatives do in fact recycle. It is not that the person disliked me or my politics, just the politics that they assumed I held through misconceived notions. It is here where I think for certain society can do better and even myself personally as I am sure I misrespresent the other side of the political spectrum on occasion
ReplyDeletePart of the problem that is found in the media mis-portraying or "demonizing" the republican side is simply due to the fact that media is biased. The bias can fall onto either side of the spectrum not just against the right. The media has become a profitable business that makes its money based off of the number of viewers shows can get. This is precisely why news shows have over time become more biased or more outlandish. They are trying to appeal to a specific audience or grab the audience's attention so that many people will watch their show and they will make a profit. The media companies are focused on reaping a large profit and less on showcasing unbiased facts. When it comes to this day and age, many young adults only get their news from television shows or biased news websites, and thus they never really learn about unbiased view points. When all young people know is already biased, it is easy to then project these biased views onto the side that you don't agree with.
ReplyDeleteI find this response very interesting in the regard that John believes he is correct for believing that his focus on the economy is the correct way to view politics but RJ basically attacks John for being insensitive. I could be wrong on this but John didn't share his view on any other aspects but the economy. He mentioned other controversial topics but never gave a definitive stance on them. Also on the topic of reporting the news, I agree with RJ. Everything is bias and is based on how one viewed the event. Everyone has encountered different experiences and it shapes how things are perceived. Politics exist for a reason their will always be those, even within their own party, who don't agree on every topic.
ReplyDelete