Saturday, July 31, 2021

Yes, there's bias

In Hollywood news the headlines are about Scarlett Johansson is suing the Disney Company for breach of contract for her movie Black Widow. I'll leave the details with the videos I'll be posting. What I want to point out though is the difference on how the story was laid out. While news outfits and journalists should report news fair and balanced there seems to be a slant on how this news is reported. ABC is owned by the Disney company and I want to show how it was presented vis-a-vis CBS. The video below is ABC News' coverage.

 

 Next is the video from CBS News.

I may be a little more critical but it does seem that the ABC News version of the story slanted to show the actress to be a bit greedy. Comparing it the the CBS coverage which had a guest who actually shed more light on the situation clearly showing both the side of Disney and the actors. I say actors since the guest added another actress in the situation to stress a point.

Sadly, I think having bias in the news is the reality and has been a reality for a very long time. It has become more visible though with people like ex-President Trump highlighting it the whole time during his presidency. With the algorithm of social media platforms throwing content based on what people click, it's very likely that most of what is consumed reinforces the consumers belief systems. People must be aware of what they believe and and try to look, or at least be open to looking at people or institutions that look at the world differently. They should realize that politicians and businesses assert their power to move their minds to act in their favor.