Cnn Media Communications

                                                Media Communications

The topics that I will address in my essay concerning CNN and their media output, will be identity politics and how it effects the confidence people put in other’s beliefs depending on certain characteristics. I will also discuss ideology and briefly compare the views of CNN and Fox News, which are both popular American news networks with opposing views when it comes to a whole range of topics. I will speak about filter bubbles and the detrimental effect they can have on the views of the public and agenda setting in the news, and finally tabloidization of the news and why news reporters do it.

Identity politics is the belief that everything that someone says carries weight depending on the group they belong to. It effectively is breaking people down into groups such as “pale, male and stale”, and then evaluating the importance of what they have to say. As a result of this, people are constantly being judged on the basis of what they look like, for instance; their age, gender, skin colour, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.

If you believe in identity politics, then you believe that because of someone’s age, gender, skin colour, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, they will carry a certain view, and that view will have a certain weight or importance.

CNN like many other news stations in America take part in identity politics.

Ideology in news stations such as CNN is very common and would be considered a bad thing. The reason it would be considered a bad thing is because if the news that CNN is releasing to the public is ideological then that news is not impartial and therefore is biased news. This is because

Politically I believe CNN are on the left and therefore would be described as progressives. They support the democratic party but want people to believe that they are impartial or middle of the road. Therefore, CNN would not admit to supporting the democratic party.

The publics opinion of the ideological orientation of CNN is mixed. According to the Pew research centres findings on the “publics perceptions of news network ideology”, many people view CNN as being a more liberal news station, however it was found that almost the same amount of people say that they found them to be, overall, impartial. However, it was also found that about four in ten regular viewers of CNN found it to be mostly liberal.

(Pew Research Center, 2009)

Unlike Fox News, CNN are in favour of tougher gun laws and do not support the National Rifle Association (NRA). They also have opposing views to President Donald Trump.

News stories from CNN would lead you to believe that Donald Trump’s thoughts and actions are morally wrong and that Trump himself is not a pleasant man, let alone a worthy president. This is confirmed when CNN wrote an article titled “North Korea: Trump is ‘begging for a nuclear war’”.  The article was concerning how he was making connections with Kim Jong-un. In the article he was labelled a “nuclear demon” and a “disrupter of global peace”

(Lee & Sterling, 2017)

On the other hand, news stories from Fox News consist mainly of anchors praising and idolising Donald Trump such as when a news anchor on Fox News spoke about Trump making connections with Kim Jong-un of North Korea, it was said that it was “another stunning Donald Trump breakthrough”.

However, in years previous when Fox News anchors spoke about Obama making these connections they demonised him and said that; “Obama would personally negotiate with the leaders of terrorist nations like Iran and North Korea without preconditions”.

This shows the level of respect Fox News has for Donald Trump and the huge difference between the views of Fox News and the views of CNN.

As said by Marx; “the dominant views in a society are the ideas of the ruling class”. I believe that in relation to news networks, what this means is that CNN are a dominant, progressive news network and therefore people who share the beliefs that CNN has regarding issues such as gun laws and whether they are pro or anti Trump will side with CNN over the competition. This is because people like to here news stories that fit in with what they believe in and therefore doesn’t challenge any of their beliefs.

Filter bubbles are something that makes it difficult for the public to see something online that is not already specifically tailored for their viewing. A filter bubble is of our own making because if we favour one view more than another than eventually we will no longer see the oppositions point of view when we are looking online. In the case of CNN, they always say that their news is impartial, and it is not biased however it is clear that they favour the democratic party and would been seen as a progressive news network. This would mean that CNN viewers would not hear the views of the opposition and hence, do not get the full picture so are unable to come up with their own views and opinions. This makes it much easier to get the public on their side as they already share most of the same beliefs.

(Pariser, 2011)

Agenda setting is used by most news networks worldwide. It is when a news network gives importance to one topic over another. This is done because the more information given by a news station concerning a certain issue, the more important the story will be for the viewer. Alternatively, the news station could give very little time and information out about a different story. What this would do is give the issue less importance in the minds of the public that is receiving this information.