Nixon 1

Desiree Nixon

Ms. Self

Grammar and Composition I

26 October 2018

Another Perspective: The Story of Media in America

[It’s November 17th, 1953, a relatively new journalist Edward R. Murrow made his name

as an anti-communist journalist. During this time McCarthy was interrogating anyone who could

have possibly communist ties. This was known as the Red Scare. Although there was a massive

encouragement to remain restrained as a journalist Murrow was not afraid to talk about the

hypocrisy on his late-night show “See It Now”] (Sanders). Technology has changed since 1953.

During this time media was not a thing everyone was exposed to every single day at the touch of

one’s finger. Media is ever present in the United States. Everywhere one turns there is some

form of media: social, news, and radio. All media has influences on different aspects of a

civilization. One of the main aspects is on politics. The United States media has been influencing

politics since its existence, for instance, the Red Scare and Edward R. Murrow. Today the role of

media has changed. There are daily accusations of “fake news”. The media is one of the most

important aspects of a democracy it can change the course of a country and its history.

Although most of the media pride its self on being non-bias there are some media outlets

are not. The current President Donald Trump is quick to point out the issues with those media

outlets that are not the most honest. This has led to the conception of the term “fake news”.

According to Frederick N. Frank, a founding partner of the Pittsburg firm of Frank, Gale, Bails,

Murcko, & Procrass, P.C., [correctly dubbed this as a combat. The news feedback is in a battle

like state. The president has caused this with acts of aggression] (Frank and Gordon 7). From
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this war, one may infer that the term fake news has now ravages through the country. What

started out as a political term has quickly become a day to day American term. As Regina Rini, a

contributor to the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, stated, [Fake News is not just dishonest, it

is deceitful. Zeke Miller of TIME truthfully thought that the Martin Luther King Jr. statue has

been eliminated from the White House when he tweeted it. True blunders in news reporting are

mistakes, not “fake news”] (Rini 44). In summary, fake news is something different from honest

reporting mistakes. It is done on purpose and has changed the way the country thinks of its

media. In fact, it can impact someone so much they will even vote differently. Parties are aware

of this. As evidence of this, Small then goes on to say [citizens and industries are dependent on

the news to provide knowledge to the public in a technological or more common manner.

Political entities are conscious of this ability. Leading them to use the media to exploit their

agenda’s through “lobbying”. Their issues can include things like the ecosystem on earth tor

government. And even medical or societal issues] (Small). Looking at this information this

shows, some media can be easily manipulated. Fakes news has been popularized by Donald

Trump during his campaign and now presidency. Coming to a similar conclusion with a

different approach, [Voters find it challenging to pick their candidate of choice. Fake news is the

cause of this. Citizens on the private and social level cannot depict the actual states of the world]

(Allcott and Gentzkow212). All of this research was done to say, fake news is something that

greatly can influence a person on which candidate they will support.

Although briefly mentioned above, but not expanded on, Donald Trump is the king of

fake news. He makes claims nearly every day on his Twitter about fake news. In fact, he has

made Twitter his main way to communicate with citizens on a daily basis. In a discussion of the

relationship between politics and Twitter, [In person, speaking and direct sight communication,
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has changed. Online communication is more prevalent. This has imprinted politics. The majority

of those in politics are using social media to propagate their ideas as social media is the latest

fad] (Kreis 608). From this one can see that Donald Trump complains that fake news is a huge

issue in the country. But, oddly enough, the fake news is normally in the favor of him according

to that source. In fact, other sources agree that Trump is actually the one who is being favored in

the media. According to “Donald Trump’s Evil Mediation”, [President Trump was being

portrayed as president on television before his election. The assumption and then election

brought him this title before it was official. Social media was the leading cause of this] (Grusin

88). This source indicates that the media is not solely against Trump. This is often pointed out

by Democrats in the country. However, Donald Trump never acknowledges their perspective.

Instead, he just uses the media to express his opinions to the world. This can be expressed in an

article written by Anne Norton, [President Trump’s crowd is the entire world. He advocates his

small metacarpus, his beloved hair, his family, his actions towards reluctant women, and his

figure. He has been rather passionate about this] (Norton 118). From this one may infer, that the

public sees the things he tries to portray on the media. However, each and every day he tries to

gain support against the media. According to Lead In Extra! Trump Dumps on Media, Again,

[Media outlets were recently put in a contest of who was the most corrupt. This was done in an

effort lead by President Trump. It was an effort to try and destroy major media] (Eggerton 4). In

summary, Trump has been one of the most anti-media presidents to live in the country. His battle

with the media is being played out on the national stage. Oddly enough the media covers it

nearly every day.

Besides President Trump, President Nixon has been the other president who has had a

war with the media. As evidence of this Michael Wolff explains, [the current presidential
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administrations should be aware of history and remember the last battle with the press lead to a

vicarious press. This last battle was an issue of President Nixon’s confidence with the media]

(Wolfe). To explain further, before his presidency he began his hatred with the media after the

first televised presidential debate with John F. Kennedy. This lead journalists to try and find

something on him. They eventually did, Watergate. According to Beyond Nixon: Growth of the

Partisan Press, [Kennedy and Johnson both committed political acts that could be known as

“dirty tricks.” What they did was very similar to Watergate. However, the media despised

President Nixon. They made sure this act was not related to what Kennedy and Johnson did]

(Kuypers 99). In other words, Nixon’s hatred of the media did not stop after the debate with

Kennedy, it only grew as he became president. To support this claim, in the novel “Watergate” it

states, [As soon as Richard Nixon became President Richard Nixon, he wanted an all-out combat

with the media. This lead journalists to be very paranoid of President Nixon] (McConnell 95).

From this one can see, journalists were investigating President Nixon as much as they could.

Watergate broke during this administration, but Watergate was not the only thing that broke

during Nixon’s presidency. It also included coverage on Vietnam. This coverage got to late night

television where Nixon sent a spokesperson. As evidence of this, Keith W. Olson explains,

[“Aiding and abetting the enemy” is a harsh accusation. Critics of President Nixon’s anti-war

plan in Vietnam were accused of this. The accusation was made by Haldeman, President Nixon’s

Chief of Staff. This was done on February 7, 1972, on NBC's Today Show] (Olson 29). From

this one can see that, President Nixon did many things against the media much as President

Trump does right now.

Not only do some politicians assume media bias, but everyday citizens also do too. The

issue of media bias has become a political issue. Every person sees this issue differently based
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upon their political beliefs. As evidence of this, Lin explains, [one's thoughts influence which

side they believe the media is biased towards and against. A representative of one party will see

the media as having a slant against whatever they believe] (Lin et al. 426). From this one can see

that, the media is an issue of parties. Although some see the media bias, others do not notice it at

all. Or it may be very difficult for one to understand. Arguing this point Erick Elejalde and others

explain, [It is extraordinarily challenging for one to infer the degree of possible media bias. It’s

just challenging for the normal audience to see any sort of bias in action. Although, citizens

normally have an idea of possible bias] (Elejalde et al. 2). To further explain, the news is just

difficult to understand. Additionally, the news is being drowned in other pop news all the time.

Pop culture has begun to take over. In a discussion about entertainment news and actual news,

Fake News: Slow Down, Get Real, explains, [The qualifications required of a news agency to be

thought of as “mainstream” is changing. Tabloid-like pop culture news has slowly become part

of the “mainstream.” The public is very unaware that actual news has been mashed with the pop

world] (Karides). To summarize, entertainment is infiltrating actual news. That could be one of

the causes of the claims of fake news. Apparently, there is actually no substantial data to support

the claims of media bias. To support this Gerard Matthews claims, [Factual number based

“evidence” is not present to show a media bias accusation. Any works are based on skewed data]

(Matthews). From this one may infer that media bias is just a political scheme candidates may

use when they do not like the news. This is something that some understand and see while others

do not.

In conclusion, the media a hotbed for debate. There are many different sides to a media

bias. It is a very common occurrence in politics. Our country is exposed to media hatred now

more than ever. The only time that this type of hatred was so high was during the Nixon
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administration. The media provides many different types of news. It is the most common source

of information in the United States. With that comes the fact that it is one of the most common

debates in the nation. [Just as Edward R. Murrow ended his newscast that attacked McCarthy

and every other newscast, “Good night, and good luck”] (Sanders).
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Works Cited

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Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 31, no. 2, 2017, pp. 211–35. The American

Academic Association, www.jstor.org/stable/44235006. Accessed 3 Oct. 2018.

Eggerton, John. “Extra! Trump Dumps on Media, Again.” Broadcasting & Cable, vol. 148,

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Elejalde, Erick, et al. “On the Nature of Real and Perceived Bias in the Mainstream Media.”

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Frank, Frederick N., and Zachary N. Gordon. “Trump Wages War against the Media While

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Kreis, Ramona. “The ‘Tweet Politics’ of President Trump.” Journal of Language & Politics, vol.

16, no. 4, July 2017, pp. 607–18. Political Science Complete, doi:10.1075/jlp.17032.kre.

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