Newscasters Are Too Opinionated and Biased

Once upon a time, Americans sat in their living rooms and listened to a newscaster report the news over the radio. The entire family would sit and eagerly listen to the facts of the day. The facts of the day dealt with European battlefields and political debate. Oddly, what the family received from these newscasters were only the facts of the days events. No one questioned whether FDR was right or wrong, they only detailed what he did that day.

Today, the era of objective news casting is dead. Gone are the days of Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite who were amazingly admired and respected by the American public for the objective way they delivered the news. Today, we have Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Glen Beck and everyone at CNN who not only fail to deliver the news objectively, but openly state what agenda they are pushing. The corporate news today no longer delivers the facts to allow the public to decide on their own right and wrong, but instead tries to persuade the public to one agenda or the other.

In the past, it was the policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission that holders of broadcast licenses present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was honest, equitable and balanced. This is what was known as the Fairness Doctrine.

The Supreme Court upheld the FCC"s right to enforce the Fairness Doctrine but in 1987, the FCC abolished the fairness doctrine outright.

The abandonment of the Fairness Doctrine from our news media renders the news media today nothing more than a collection of talking heads. Guests are either caressed through interviews or yelled at by the hosts. Gone are the days of vigorous and honest debate. Either way, the reporters biased is shown and the entire broadcast is spent trying to persuade the viewer to one side or the other.

Yes, newscasters today are too opinionated and biased. Why is this? It is not just because they choose to be this way. It is because the American Public is no longer patient enough to listen through the days events and come to their own conclusion. It is too bad, back then Americans trusted the source of their news as being objective facts. Today, Americans question the newscasters' bias and tend to just look away. With everyone screaming, nobody wants to listen.