Over the past couple months of this election, President-elect Donald Trump has denied the reliability of most aspects of the political system. Labeling himself as a “political outsider,” Trump has called into question the validity of presidential polls, the Democratic Party and the voting system itself. One of the biggest targets for the 45th president has been the media, which he believed has been against him since he started his campaign. Although the media may have been against him, they may have actually helped him gain a large base of supporters and, in turn, led to him becoming the 45th president of the United States of America.
Today, United States citizens have diminishing trust in the news outlets they used to depend on every day. A recent Gallup poll revealed that only 32 percent of people have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the media. This lack of trust in the media has stemmed from the idea that many of the major news networks have some liberal bias to them.
This media bias became evident recently when a study came out by the Media Research Center which found that 91 percent of the coverage of Donald Trump by major networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) was negative, while his counterpart, Hillary Clinton, was covered negatively 79 percent of the time. Proportionally, the study found 145 negative opinionated statements about Hillary Clinton, while there were 623 negative opinionated statements about Donald Trump. Although it is easy to talk negatively about a man who bragged about groping women, proposed a complete ban on Muslim immigrants and who praises Russian President Vladimir Putin, the coverage of the two candidates was far too unproportioned. The fact at hand is that these news networks spread negatively opinionated statements in more than a 4:1 ratio and, since they were not just reporting the news, but instead putting their own anti-Trump view on the news, it proves their liberal bias.
This excessive negative coverage of Donald Trump boiled down to his bombastic behavior and the media blowing up any story that they could get their hands on. While these stories are newsworthy and are worth covering, they are often accompanied by opinionated statements. For example, when discussing Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail about Bill Clinton, CNN reporter Don Lemon silenced a panel of Trump supporters and only allowed his message defending Hillary Clinton to be heard, eventually removing both people from his show before they could get a word in. In the end, the excessive coverage by the media ended up helping Trump by building up his supporters, many of whom flocked to him due to the concerns that they had with the media.
As Donald Trump would have more newsworthy moments, the media would spend an excessive amount of time on it and, as a result, more people would recognize him and his platform. The rise of mass media has revolutionized the presidential campaign and the 2016 election was a prime example of exactly that. It showcased how the media can and often does affect an election.
It should also be mentioned that the negative coverage in the media may have led others to join in on the “Trump Train.” With all the negativity in the media with mass shootings, the newest deadly virus that can kill us or other countries building up influence, many people wanted to see a change in America and how it’s run. Because of this, people flocked to the political outsider who pledged to bring major change to Washington and, in his own words, “drain the swamp” of traditional politics. The constant negativity in the news helped solidify people’s views that America is indeed in a bad position and their only hope is to elect a political outsider to make major changes in Washington.
As students at NC State whose minds are being introduced to new ideas every day, it’s important to understand this media bias as we can use it to be careful when watching the news. Today, with fear at an all-time high from students around the country and on campus, this liberal bias could cause more problems than it can solve. With many students protesting Donald Trump’s Presidency across the country, the media is seizing this opportunity to continue to strike fear into many Americans by showing almost only negative ideas coming out of the Trump presidency. Many students across the nations who are new to politics and have developing political mindsets can only fear the worst from a Trump presidency.
Here at NC State, it’s important to not give in to the idea that all Trump supporters are racists or white supremacists. Despite the events that occurred earlier this semester with the racist group messages that were shared around campus, there are plenty of other students on this campus that have an open mind and respect other students’ culture and values. Specifically, I have spoken to many students who have voted for Donald Trump who are rational individuals and are firmly against any prejudices and acts of racism. Despite them being labeled as “deplorables,” many of them are reasonable people and it’s important not to judge them based on preconceived ideas from the media.
