There is no true source of unbiased journalism anymore in this world; everywhere one looks, news sources either cater to the left or to the right. The surge of social media has influenced news outlets to push America even further apart, both dividing the nation and spreading false information in one fell swoop.
If one tunes into Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, “New York Times,” “Washington Post” or any of the major news networks, unbiased journalism with pure motives will not be found. They will find political commentaries that feed people’s egotistical worldviews along with the newfound fear of conflict that is ravaging America.
Man naturally wants to adopt a worldview that is commonly accepted by peers and does not want any rival worldviews. We are naturally egocentric, wanting everything to be about ourselves. When a person has a different worldview than another, conflict ensues. Conflict is a fact of life, yet many people hate to engage in it. This is natural, yet in the divided society that America has become, the absence of genuine unbiased journalism has rid the culture of its ability to debate.
People can now customize and build their world of information around what they want to hear. In doing this, however, they neglect to consider the opposing viewpoints and open themselves up to flagrantly believing false news.
Social media only propels this destructive principle, using algorithms to track a person’s usage of the platform, from how much time they look at posts to what kind of posts they like. This is done to create an addictive feed that lures in viewers and captivates their attention for long periods of time. Strategies like this come into effect when a person who likes more politically conservative posts receives more conservative news; the same goes for more liberal posts. This pushes people into camps that collectively oppose each other, building a culture of increasingly polarized viewpoints.
A climate of polarizing viewpoints culminates into a whirlwind of one-sided arguments with no tolerance for opposition, partitioning algorithms in social media and self-centered worldviews that result in a tribal society. These “tribes” push people into specific groups, one that tells the people who to hate and who to love, deepening the ever increasing partisan divide in our society.
Though it seems there is no possible way out of the darkness that currently envelopes the nation, there is hope. The masses have to make a stand against the biased nature of news networks and bring them back into check, along with the destructive social media algorithms that threaten free society as we know it now, before it becomes too late.
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