MEDIA ISSUES: Bias in the media

Issues surrounding 'free press' and unbiased media in Australia has particularly come to light in the last few months during and post the 2013 election. During the election, the Herlad Sun and the Telegraph were accused of publishing favouring news about Tony Abbott as fact rather than opinion. Since then, the government of today is posing to introduce new laws that will restrict certain people producing private media as the "may use their communications capabilities to oppose government policy".

This debate has therefore pushed Australian media to pose the opinion they want to be "free from influence and editorially independent of their owners", ultimately hoping for "free press"; however, they also "seem comfortable exempting these same principles from the owners of media businesses". The most ironic thing about this issue is that there are wide-spread inconsistancies between editorially independent journalists and privately owned media.

Overall, this issue sparks many different opinions and debates about the topic, as it effects every one of us, with some being less educated about media bias than others. Could this be said to be a direct correlation with media-opinion influencing the Australian public as people from lower socio-economic areas do not have the same access and background knowledge regarding the types of media-restricitions than perhaps those of a higher socio-economic class?


Sourced: ABC The Drum