National Perspective and News Bias: A Comparison of National News Broadcasts

<jats:p> Among the various debates that have emerged concerning the roles and influences of mass communication in western societies, one of the most persistently contentious is about the place of journalism in a modern democracy. Although there is general agreement that an impartial and free press is fundamental to a democratic society, there remain widely differing opinions about the institutional structures that can best maintain freedom of expression, particularly in the face of rapidly changing technologies for communication. Both the power that have accrued to media institutions and the increasingly vital part that information distribution plays in most social processes have regularly brought journalistic practice to the foreground of social policy discussions. With the growing documentation of television's usurpation of the use and credibility of other news media, the part played by television news in helping to shape the public's image of reality plays a central part in this controversy. </jats:p>