Media Bias and Hyper Partisan Society

Our democracy is facing a major fork in the road. We, as a society, are becoming increasingly partisan and ideologically divided. Our new media landscape has created a society whose contrasting perspectives can no longer reconcile their differences, leading to conflict on our streets and in our homes. Such a damaging political landscape is a product of two major changes in the media: the advent of filter bubbles and the increasingly partisan nature of the news media.

These issues are not easy to solve. The fundamental nature of how we consume news must change. News sources must begin to value factual reporting over opinions that create headlines and views. Organisations such as the ABC and BBC are moving in the right direction. Government funded, not-for-profit news organisations create a basis in facts that can guide the public discourse. As a society, we must become less concerned about sound bytes and more concerned about the real legislative issues. Such a change will create a political environment which encourages action over idealism, which is better for all. Moreover, we ourselves must become more critical consumers. We naturally incline towards those to who we agree with, but we need to begin to consume opinions whose perspectives we don’t agree with, in order to expand our mind and consider our viewpoints. Falling into the trap of confirmation bias is easy, even I have experienced it. Once a proud liberal who was on the verge of socialism, I began to consider the views of conservatives and found there were issues to the perspectives I was ascribing to. I became an avid watcher of the nightly Sky News barrage of conservatism, as well as ABC’s Q and A, Four Corners and other programming and a reader of the Age’s editorial column. Such a balanced media diet continued to expand my views and allow me to consider other perspectives. We all need to find a way to burst our bubble and understand those who don’t agree with us, to foster a better political landscape.

The issue with our modern media landscape and our consumption of media are not easy to solve, but we must endeavour to become more balanced media consumers, for not only the enhancement of our own perspectives, but to improve the nature of our political landscape.

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